Fire and Ice
by Shadow of a Black Rose
Summary: Ginny Weasley seems to have fallen in love with someone rather unexpected, but how did it happen? Rated M for later chapters - Femmeslash and general filth eventually don't read if you're not into the usual messed up shit that I write... YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!
1. An Unlikely Love

**Disclaimer: **As always, anything you recognise... I don't own.

**Note: **So here's a new one for you guys, it's only a taster of what's to come but I hope you like it all the same. I know it's been a while since I last posted my work but I've been really busy with my AS exams. Saying that, it's probably going to be a while until I do anything else after this one as I'm going to be spending the next year doing my A levels and praying that I get into a good university! But hopefully this will be good enough to hold you until I can get an update or something new up. Don't forget to review and let me know what you think, I'm open to criticism as long as it's constructive and not something like "you suck, go die"! ;)

**Warning: **This chapter contains some mild lesbian action which may develop further as the story progresses, although I'm not sure to what extent just yet. Also there's a rather large age gap between the two women. I suggest, if any of this is not your cup of tea you may want to go and read something by another author as this is kind of my style and knowing my mind it will probably get rather graphic the more I write! But, y'know, whatever. At the end of the day it's your choice if you want to read my filth or not.

**Fire and Ice **

Soft, cold fingers gently caress my cheek and sparkling blue eyes meet my own. If only my parents could see me now. They would hate it, of course, but maybe that's why I love it so much. Maybe that's why I love her so much. No, that's not the reason I love her; although it does make things far more interesting.

"What are you thinking about?"

Merlin, her voice sends shivers down my spine. The smooth, warm tones like a sweet lullaby that sooths and calms my nerves. Each syllable echoes in my mind with the tenderness only present in the voice of a true love. No one else has ever made me feel like this – only her.

She's still staring into my eyes, her own clouded with concern. Why is she... oh. I still haven't answered her question. I really must stop day dreaming like this.

"Oh nothing" I murmur.

This is our set conversation starter. I'm not actually sure why we use it, but it seems to work for us; and really, where is the use in questioning a system that works.

"Don't give me that. I know you and I know you were thinking about something." The fingers move slowly down my cheek and trail down my neck. "Come on Ginny, you know you can tell me anything."

How can I argue with that? I do know I can tell her everything and anything. And she said my name. She knows I can't resist when she says my name.

"You." It's barely audible but I know she heard me; the mists of concern evaporating instantly, leaving me to question if they were ever there at all. A small smile tugs at those perfect lips, curving towards her sparkling blue eyes. It's her favourite answer and I know it. Even my delivery of that single word has been sculpted as a part of this conversation – shaped by me to fit a very specific purpose.

I learned a long time ago that Narcissa Malfoy craves attention. It's like she feeds on the energy of a single adoring word, absorbs the stares and even brief glances that she gets, true to her name. But it's this need to be adored that makes us so suited to one another. I've never been one for the lime light. I'm so used to being pushed to the sidelines, in my enormous family, that it's not natural for me to want attention; oh, but I'm more than glad to give it. And who better to bestow my adoration upon but this goddess before me.

I assume you are wondering how this came to be. It's a well known fact that Narcissa is the pretty little pureblood housewife of Lucius Malfoy, mother to Draco Malfoy and the most established socialite the wizarding world has ever seen. So how and why can she now be found groping a witch who, not only is young enough to be her daughter, but has also been openly labelled as a blood traitor by all those of the pureblood elite?

It all started about a year ago...


	2. Mrs Malfoy's Proposition

**Disclaimer: **You know how it goes by now. If you recognise it then I hold no claim of ownership over it.

**Note: **Wow, this is an amazingly quick update for me! You should all be proud of me! Not sure where this came from but I had a dream about my muse last night and it inspired me to roll out this lovely bit of literature. Not my usual filth but quite sweet I think so I hope you all like it. As always I would be delighted to read your reviews as what you think really does mean the world to me. Also, again as always, constructive criticism is welcome but go easy on me; I am an emotional soul and a lot of what I write is rather personal to me as my main characters are normally centred around me and my personal feelings. Just keep that in mind when you're reviewing.

Love always

~ Shadow of a Black Rose xxx

~.~.~.~.~.~

When the war ended the wizarding world was in ruins. No one knew how we were to rebuild our lives to the standard they had once been and for a long time it felt as though we would never get everything back to normal. The Ministry had to be re-established; most of the buildings had to be rebuilt from the damage caused by death eaters and many older students were forced to leave school early in order to fill the jobs left by those who had died in battle. However, the biggest problem was Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. With the final battle taking place at the school, the building was nowhere near habitable. Roofs had caved in, walls had been blasted to rubble, the tower which had housed the Gryffindor common room and dormitories had totally disappeared and the Quidditch pitch had been burned to the ground; despite teachers, parents and volunteers best efforts a large amount of the school still wasn't ready by the time the next school year was set to begin. Because of this, Headmistress McGonagall was forced to decide that those who had planned on continuing their education and taking their NEWT exams would have to find another way of doing it as the school simply couldn't handle the excess of students with the state of the building and staff.

This may not seem important to you at the moment, but wait for it. I promise the state of the wizarding world is important to my story.

I had considered getting a job as the war ended in order to do my bit in helping to help get everything back to normal; the only problem was that becoming an Auror required me to pass my NEWTs. Now, the closure of the school left me with almost no options. It was no secret that my family had almost no money, which ruled out the option of taking my exams at Beauxbatons as we couldn't afford the fees for even one term. Mum had offered to teach me at home, which seemed like a reasonable option until I remembered that she had failed almost all of her own NEWTs, so that put a stop to my option number two. What did that leave me with? Well, there were the classes that Kingsley, the temporary Minister of Magic, had said he would put on at the ministry three times a week; but somehow the thought that I could possibly run into my dad while there put me off the idea. I love him, but he's so embarrassing in public places! And this is where I ran out of options. There was nothing left for me to choose from.

So, having lost all hope of taking my exams I was about to give up on the idea when an unexpected face popped up amongst the flames in our fireplace when I was home alone one afternoon. At first I was in complete shock; why on earth was Narcissa Malfoy, the mother of that stuck up, arrogant little ferret Draco, going out of her way to contact anyone in my family. For one thing I was almost certain she believed herself as too good to associate with our sort, not to mention her husband and son's involvement in the dark side during the war. We were practically rivals! After the initial shock passed, however, my heart jumped into my throat. I had never told anyone this, but since I first saw her in person at the Quidditch World Cup when I was thirteen I had had the biggest crush on Narcissa. Obviously I dated plenty of guys, even after my first meeting with Mrs Malfoy, but that was more for the benefit of my parents than myself. They put up with so much drama from Ron and his friends that I thought the last thing they would want was to find out that their only daughter was a lesbian, not to mention that she was in love with someone they despised.

"Miss Weasley, I'm so glad to have caught you alone. May I have a word please?" She spoke softly with a slight tremble in her voice which I could not quite comprehend. But it was just the cutest thing that I lost all control of my own speech.

"Urm, sure, I guess."

"I hear that you are having trouble finding somewhere to study for your final exams this year." True. But what concern was that of hers? I was more confused than ever, but I was so lost in her voice that I dare not question her motives for fear she would leave.

"Yes."

"Well, I have a proposition for you. I would like to offer to teach you everything you will need to know for your exams. I can assure you I am perfectly qualified for such a job; I received the highest grades possible in every exam I took when I was at school, plus I am skilled in more ladylike qualifications such as dance, music and elocution. Now, I'm sure you're wondering what is in this for me. I'm not looking for money; we both know I have no shortage of that, all I ask is that you try to help my family re-induct ourselves into society."

I was speechless for a moment. How was this happening? The woman I was mad about was giving me the perfect opportunity to spend time with her, just the two of us, and I didn't even have to pay her for her efforts. The only part that didn't make total sense to me was that she wanted my help to get the Malfoy family back in people's good books. I mean, people liked my family well enough but in case she had forgotten we were like the scum of the wizarding world, not good enough to mix with anyone. She must have picked up on my confusion, because it wasn't long before I was getting my questions answered: "Listen, I know things haven't been easy between us in the past; Merlin knows I tried to control Lucius but once that man has made up his mind about someone there is no changing it. I just... well your family's leading role in the war has given you a very good standing within the new society and, well we are hated for the things our family did to help the Dark Lord." Her eyes lowered in what can only be described as utter self loathing.

"But, you saved Harry. Surely people see that without you the war would never have been won."

"Apparently even that does not cancel out the actions of my husband and son. Not to mention that it was for selfish reasons; I just wanted to save my own son."

"But Harry said he would..."

"Ginny, listen to me." A small tingle ran down my spine at the soft tones of my name rolling from her perfect tongue, past those delicate lips. Needless to say, it struck me speechless and all I could do was obey her order. "Harry Potter has a lot of influence now, but even he can't change the opinions of those my family wronged with a single word. The damage is done, but it is possible that I can gradually build barriers and that is what I want to do here. I want us to become friends, if that is at all possible. Please Ginny, you're my last hope."

"Okay." I even shocked myself with that single word. I hadn't even thought it through but I knew that I had to accept. Narcissa was my last chance to pass my exams and become an Auror, and I was her last chance to get back to the top of the social hierarchy. We needed each other. Plus, how could I pass up the opportunity to really get to know her. Obviously, I knew she was a married woman who, as far as I knew, was not into other women but just to know her a little better would make me happy and I couldn't sacrifice my own happiness when it was practically being handed to me on a plate.

"Really?"

"Well, it sounds like really we need each other..." A part of me wished that I had meant that in another way, but knowing that she didn't think of me like that I simply smiled: "I don't see why we shouldn't try to make this work."

"Excellent. So, since a normal school term would start tomorrow I suggest we do the same. I have already ensured that the floo network connects our homes; I will expect you here at precisely nine o'clock tomorrow morning totally prepared to work, and no excuses." A small smile curved her lips as she whispered: "Ginny. Thank you." And with that she was gone, but only for a few short hours until I could once again enjoy the magical presence of Mrs Narcissa Malfoy. I could hardly wait.


	3. A Restless Night

**Disclaimer: **See it, recognise it? Nope, not mine! I believe it belongs to the goddess that is J.K. Rowling.

**Note: **I know it's taken me a while to update, and I am very very sorry. However you may want to get used to waiting for updates as it's back to school in two weeks so I've got to finish my holiday homework and then I'll be starting year 13 which means lots and lots of essays and homework and reading and lord knows what else... fun huh? Anyway, despite all that, I hope this chapter is enough to hold you until the next time I get to updating. It's a little back and forth between real life and Ginny's imagination so you're going to have to pay a little more attention than normal (basically anything in italics is Ginny's imagination). I'm not sure how I feel about this one (which is also partly why it's taken me so long to write it) so I could really do with hearing what you all think of it, if that's okay with you... So, on with the show! Enjoy!

Love always

~ Shadow of a Black Rose xxx

**Warning: **Not too bad in this chapter but there is some very discrete sexual references and a slightly aggressive, drunken Lucius, so I thought it would be safer for me to give you the heads up... just in case.

~.~.~.~.~.~

I barely slept that night; the anticipation of what awaited me the next morning was almost too much. Lying in my bed, I couldn't help but allow my imagination to wonder to the cold, dark, gothic manor house many miles away that housed the most beautiful woman I had ever seen.

_Narcissa Malfoy is lying on a four-poster, king sized bed, covered to the waist in black silk sheets and sleeping peacefully. She looks so perfect; like an angel with luscious blond curls spilling over the pillow behind her and the gentle curving silhouette of her body highlighted by the light of a dwindling candle sitting on the bedside table. The flickering flame casts a delicate glow over her pale face, emphasising her flawless complexion and bringing out a light blush in her cheeks that, under normal circumstances, would not be visible. _

_The rest of the room juxtaposes greatly with the beauty lay in the bed. It is the definition of gigantomania. Heavy black velvet curtains are drawn over a full wall of arched windows that stretch from ceiling to floor and lead out to a large stone balcony. Overbearing, dark wood furniture surrounds her on every side with ornate snake designs carved into them, curving and coiling in all directions. The walls are painted a deep shade of green, delicately adorned with a trail of silver snakes, coiling and squirming around the bottom and emphasising the separation of the wall from the dark wooden floor. On the whole, the room is everything that Narcissa is not: Dark, large and extremely daunting. _

As I further imagined what would be happening where she was right now I began to drift into a light sleep. I pulled the blanket my mother had knitted for me when I was very small up over my shoulders and rolled onto my stomach as my mind developed an even broader picture of Narcissa's current sleeping state.

_She wrinkles her nose gently as the door opens, bathing her in a soft light from the hall outside. He strides in clumsily, her husband, with his nose held high in the air and his cane swinging carelessly in his right hand; once again returning from a full day of drinking in some sordid muggle bar with scantily clad sluts rubbing themselves against him._

For a moment I wondered why I was imagining Mr Malfoy as a raging alcoholic. I suppose I had always associated a fall from grace with being the destruction of a person; and to me, Lucius Malfoy seemed just the type to turn to alcohol in his desperate need for some sort of comfort.

_The door swings shut behind him, once again plunging the room into semi darkness. The candle on Narcissa's side of the bed has almost burned out, leaving just enough light for Lucius Malfoy to make out the shape of his wife sleeping peacefully in their bed, though slightly blurry through his drunken gaze. He throws his cane to the side, leaving it to clatter to the ground before rolling out of sight. As he stumbles towards the bed he removes each article of clothing, dropping them to the ground as though they were of no importance once removed from his body. He falls face first on the bed and groans deeply as he tries to pull his legs, which seem to be dangling over the edge, further onto the mattress. _

_Narcissa stirs and he stops moving. Everything is quiet for a moment; one may assume he does not wish to wake the sleeping lady, but a more likely explanation would be his wanting to avoid a telling off from the sharp tongued woman lay by his side. He has never truly cared for the well-being of others. He only cares for himself, and that's only likely to get worse with their living situation being as it currently is. _

_He begins to edge closer to Narcissa, panting with the effort of pulling his full weight with only the strength of his arms. She twitches her nose, sensing his presence, but does no more. Lucius grabs her hip roughly with his left hand and rolls her onto her back as her eyes flutter open. _

"_Good, you're awake." He grunts. _

"_Well I wasn't until a few seconds ago, but now, yes I am awake." She sucks her teeth in annoyance, trying very hard not to roll her eyes at her husband's dishevelled demeanour which she has become far too accustomed with of late. His panting breath stinks of alcohol and she can't help but gag a little as it invades her airways and half chokes her. Lucius tries to manoeuvre his hand to caress the back of her neck, however his intoxication gets the better of him and he collapses with his full weight onto Narcissa's delicate body. "Lucius," she hisses, all of the air knocked out of her body with the force of her husband's fall, "get off." And with that he rolls off of her and passes out, totally naked and splayed over most of the bed. _

My eyes flicked open and once again all hope of sleep was lost. How could I sleep when that poor woman was being treated so horribly by her husband? I had to remind myself that it was only my imagination, that everything within Malfoy Manor was probably perfectly fine and Lucius was probably making love to the goddess he was married to at that very moment. Just the thought of it made me gag. His hands roughly grasping at her delicate body, bruising and marking her perfect porcelain flesh, tugging too hard at that shining waterfall of golden curls; it made me sick.

I sat up in my bed and looked around my room for something to distract me from my own thoughts. My eyes scanned every inch of the room until finally they caught sight of my school books, ready to be taken with me to Malfoy Manor the next morning. Swinging my legs over the side of the bed I stood up and tip-toed over to my desk as quietly as I possibly could. I ran my fingers gently over the silver letters engraved into the first book: 'NEWT Level Charms – By Marlena Golding'. I had always had a love for the delicate font used in charms books, although I would never admit that to anyone. The way each letter curled elegantly into the next just looked so pretty, and I clearly had a thing for a pretty appearance. With that thought in mind, my imagination started to stray back to Narcissa.

_She slides from between the sheets of the bed and lights a new candle which she carries to her dressing table on the opposite side of the room. She slowly lowers herself onto the stool and places the candle on the dressing table. _

"_Why on earth did I marry that man?" Narcissa mutters quietly, catching a glimpse of her husband passed out on the bed, just behind her own reflection in the mirror. She curls her fingers around the cold, silver handle of her hairbrush and begins to pull it gently through the thin curtain of soft blonde curls that falls just below her shoulders. Each stroke of the brush sends the golden locks into gentle spirals, pulling them from the slightly knotted curls that were the result of her sleeping state. It seems that Narcissa brushes her hair for hours before she carefully places the brush back on the dressing table and levels her eyes, once more, with the mirror before her. Her own pale, sculpted face stares back at her, shining slightly in the light of the candle. She lifts a hand to her cheek and gently runs her fingers over the smooth skin. For a woman of her age she looks incredibly young, of course a few glamour charms and a carful skin care regime has not gone amiss there, but she is the only one who will ever know that. She still looks as youthful as she had when she first married Lucius, back when she was that foolish, naive little girl who had no idea what she was letting herself in for. "If only I'd known back then." _

_A horrible grunt from the bed makes Narcissa wrinkle her nose in disgust – she would never understand what she had seen in him all those years ago. _

I didn't know why I was torturing myself with those dreams; wishing and hoping that she was miserable with Lucius. I was pathetic; a stupid, immature child who needed to pull her head out of the clouds and face facts. Narcissa Malfoy was a married woman who would, and could, never love me!

I pushed my books away from me and covered my face with my hands, my elbows resting lightly on the desk. This was going to be a long night.


	4. Let The Lessons Begin

**Disclaimer: **Unless there's something I'm missing and I've magically become J.K. Rowling (I wish) then anything Harry Potter related is not mine!

**Note: **NEW CHAPTER! And, in case you couldn't tell, I'm excited about this one. I spent all day on it so I'm hoping that it's really good and you all enjoy it *crosses fingers* So, get reading and, if you wish, let me know what's going on in those pretty little heads of yours.

Love always

~ Shadow of a Black Rose xxx

**Warning: **Little bit of a shouting match but that's it for this chapter; I'm actually amazed how well behaved I'm being with this story. I normally can't handle more than one chapter without something naughty being slipped in there (haha I turned that dirty in my mind ;P)

~.~.~.~.~.~

It seemed I had been right about the overall appearance of Malfoy Manor when imagining it the night before. Obviously, not everything was exactly like I'd pictured it, but on the whole there was the same largely cold, overpowering and expensive air about the place that seemed to suit the family so well. Just as I had thought, most of the manor was in dark wood or marble with the main colour scheme centring on the colours of Slytherin house. The library, in which I was to take most of my lessons, was enormous; it was bigger than my house, with every wall entirely composed of bookshelves holding thousands and thousands of books. The only exception was the far wall which was split down the middle by a large, arched window that gave a beautiful view of the grounds and allowed a strip of sunlight to pour into the room and reflect off the tiny silver letters on the spine of each and every book. The most impressive part, however, was the centre of the room. It was like a maze of tall bookshelves that I was almost certain I would have got lost in, had it not been for Narcissa guiding me through each set of shelves towards a large table by the window on my arrival at the manor.

Narcissa and I spent the majority of the morning discussing what we would have to cover throughout the year and how long we should spend on each topic. She was adamant that, as well as the usual subjects I would study at school, she wanted to give me lessons in the sorts of subjects that – as she put it – 'every young lady should be taught'. I wasn't so sure at first. I already had so much that I actually needed to learn for my exams and I thought it would be a waste of time for me to learn how to play a piano or how one should act in the presence of royalty; I mean, when was I ever likely to meet a King? But after two hours of debating the matter and making no progress whatsoever I decided it wasn't worth the fight. If she was that intent on teaching me how to live in an elite society then what would be the harm in letting her.

"You'll be thankful for this at some point." She had told me when I finally agreed to it, a smug little smile painted on her lips that I couldn't help but giggle at.

"Oh will i now?" It was far more flirtatious than I had meant it to sound. I tried to keep the grin on my face but Narcissa seemed to have frozen in shock and I began to worry that it had been a mistake to have even replied. She looked to be considering it for a moment – I could practically see her mind working as her eyes searched my face for... what? It was like she was looking for a sign or hint of something in my features, but what she was looking for I couldn't possibly tell.

"Yes," she murmured, her lips twitching into a slightly unsure smile, "yes, you will."

Silence fell over the room and i shuffled my books around in an attempt to seem busy. I could feel her eyes still locked on me, still searching for whatever feeling or message she had been looking for before. I really had to keep my emotions under control, I'd only been in her presence for a few hours and already I was slipping into dangerous territory. If I gave any more away I might as well just rip my heart from my body to save her the trouble of doing it herself.

"So, what's Draco doing now? I assume he didn't have any interest in returning to school and taking his NEWTs." A pathetic attempt to cover my tracks, I could only hope she'd buy into it and forget about my little slip up. Narcissa began to chew on her lip a little at the mention of her son. I had a feeling this was a bit of an awkward subject at the moment, but it was too late to take my question back now. We sat in silence for another few moments as she continued to chew on her lip and consider how to deal with the awkward situation I had, once again, created.

"No," she began, her brow creasing slightly; she looked older than I'd ever thought possible. Draco must have really been giving his mother a hard time since the war ended. "No, my son refuses to do anything now that the war is over. He believes no employer will ever take him on considering what he... well, which side he chose. I'm awfully afraid he's given up completely." Her eyes dropped closed for a moment and a few tears seeped out from the corners. Gently, they rolled down her cheeks and dropped, one by one, from her chin into the skirt of her silken, sky blue dress. "I've tried to convince him... I've said everything I can think of to make him believe there's still hope. But how can I convince anyone of anything when I don't believe it myself?" Tears continued to drop into her lap but there was no evidence of it in her voice. It amazed, and saddened me to see how she accepted the situation so simply. I wanted to hold her hand and kiss away the tears. I wanted to wrap my arms around her and let her cry to her heart's content while I gently stroked her hair and promised to do all I could to make everything okay again. I wanted so much to make her smile again, but all I could do was sit and watch as she cried over her broken life.

"Mrs Malfoy I..."

"Oh Ginny, I'm so sorry. What must you think of me, sitting here like a blubbing child?" She blinked away the remaining tears and brushed a few strays from beneath her eyes. "It's not all as bad as I make it seem, I just hate that both Draco and Lucius are taking our... situation in such a defeatist way. I'm the one that has to stay strong and try to make things okay again when it's their misdoing that landed us here in the first place." She sighed deeply before allowing a small smile to grace her still exquisitely perfect features. "But I shouldn't be troubling you with my problems; maybe we should have some lunch. I don't think either of us is going to be able to continue on an empty stomach" and Narcissa rose to her feet and began heading towards the door, seemingly, as though nothing had happened.

~.~.~.~.~.~

"So you all really live in that tiny house? Oh, but how do you not go mad with the lack of space? I wouldn't be able to live in conditions like that." Narcissa giggled giving me a look that almost seemed to scream 'I don't believe it's possible'.

"It's not really as bad as it seems, well apart from when Fred and George decide to pull some devious prank on Ron. It's unbearable to have to listen to the fighting it causes, all day and all night!"

We were perched on the sofa in the sitting room after finally finishing the work for the day and deciding that, since we would be spending almost every day for a year together, it would be a good idea to get to know one another a little better. We'd already discussed every member of my family, in detail and we'd covered every year that I'd spent at Hogwarts right up until the battle and, really, there was no need to discuss that - we both remembered it vividly.

"I always wondered what my life would have been like if I had had brothers instead of sisters. Then again, Bella could probably have passed for a boy I suppose, she was certainly violent enough" Narcissa sighed, sadness swimming in her eyes.

"Were you close, you and Bellatrix?"

"You could say that I suppose. I had a closer relationship with her than anyone else, but Bella never really got close to anyone. She wasn't the sort to bother herself with other people... then again, you probably know that already."

"You know, I know that everyone else thinks she was a terrible person who was totally insane, but I don't think she was really that bad. I think she just made mistakes." Narcissa laughed and leant back, staring into the fire opposite us where enchanted green flames crackled away with a strange icy warmth. Her eyes seemed to cloud over reminiscing about her sister, as if she needed full concentration to actually remember her at all.

"She wasn't always so lacking in sanity you know." She rolled her head to the side and locked her eyes on mine. It was the first time she'd looked me directly in the eyes before and it felt as though a spark of electric energy shot through my body. I wondered if it were possible that she'd felt it too, but it was so hard to tell when she could easily mask any feeling she wished to remain a secret – she was good at that. "When we were young Bella was the one with common sense. Dromeda and I would always want to hunt for small animals to practice magic on, but Bellatrix refused to let us go. She was always saying that she was the eldest sister, and as the eldest it was her job to stop us from doing something silly like exposing magic by accidentally getting caught trying to explode a rabbit or something like that." She laughed slightly, turning her gaze back to the fire. "But then, she met The Dark Lord. I don't know what it was about him; maybe it was his power or his looks, but for some reason Bella fell totally in love with him. She would have done anything he asked – she did do anything he asked. It was Azkaban that made her the woman she was when she died; when she came back from that place, that's when I knew I'd lost my sister." Tears were brimming in her eyes again but this time I wasn't going to let her sit there and cry. I placed my hand over hers and stroked it gently with my thumb.

"That must have been terrible for you." The words sounded forced and tasted bitter. That wasn't what I had wanted to say at all. I wanted to tell her that, even when we lose those we love, they're still in our hearts, and that those that loved her would always be there to support her. I wanted to tell her that I was there for her and that I loved her – but that would have been too much. That would have caused problems. And I had to remember that once the words were said I could never un-say them.

"It was, but..."

As if on cue, as I was sure Narcissa was just about to say something important, a loud bang resonated from the entrance hall and cut her off mid sentence. I felt her hand tense in mine.

"Lucius." She muttered. Her voice was shaking slightly and she was trembling as she lifted herself from the sofa and slowly began to walk towards the door. She paused momentarily and looked back to me, her big blue eyes reflecting the light of the fire. "It's probably best if you stay in here for the moment. I'll be back as soon as I can." With a weak smile, she turned and tottered out of the room, allowing the door to swing shut gently behind her.

I sat for a few moments, fidgeting uncomfortably in the silence and emptiness of the sitting room. Part of me wanted to go and make sure she was okay; it didn't sound like Mr Malfoy was in a very good mood and I was a little worried that it wouldn't turn out well for her. The only problem was, she had told me to stay put and I didn't want to risk making things worse by not doing what I was told. Not knowing what to do I stood and began to pace back and forth across the room.

"I am sick and tired of being gawped at all the time like I have some horrible disfigurement!" The voice was muffled but it was unmistakably the voice of Lucius Malfoy, and he sounded angry. Muffled speech followed, presumably Narcissa was trying to calm her husband down but I couldn't make out what she was saying. Cautiously, I began to edge my way a little closer to the door which had not fully shut when Narcissa left the room. "No I can't understand it!" Lucius barked "We are trying our best to make things right with these people, but how can we when they won't give us half a chance to do so?"

"Lucius, not all... some people are willing to give us a... should give it time... will come..." It was typical really, hearing parts of what Narcissa said was actually slightly worse than hearing none at all. I kept asking myself if I should risk leaving the room but I had a horrible feeling that I'd regret it if I did.

"What do you know? You're just a stupid woman! I don't know why I'm even allowing you to attempt this idea of yours; it'll never work!"

"Allowing! Since when, Lucius, do I need your permission to do anything?" I pressed my ear against the door, not wanting to miss a single word. If he hurt her there was nothing that would stop me from running out of that room and making him wish he'd never been born.

"Since the day you married me!"

"Yes, and we both know what a mistake that was! My mother has a lot to answer for!"

"Oh please, your mother isn't the one who married me Narcissa!"

"No but she's the one who forced me into it!"

"Well could you blame her? Chasing after that filthy mudblood Evans girl as you were! You were a disgrace to your family and you still are!" I wondered for a moment if I had misheard him, but no, I couldn't have. Narcissa was once in love with Lily, Harry's mother? "We both know the reason you're teaching the Weasley girl Narcissa and it has nothing to do with her NEWTs or our social status!"

I froze on the spot as silence engulfed the entire manor. Was he saying what I thought he was saying? My lips trembled slightly and I could barely breathe. The hum of voices began again but I could no longer decipher what the two Malfoys were discussing. I stumbled back to the sofa, still in shock and collapsed back into my original seat. There was only one possible reason to why Narcissa was helping me if it wasn't for her own benefit and it was the same reason her family had forced her to marry Lucius. She felt something for the wrong person. She felt something for me. A thousand thoughts were speeding through my mind at once: why hadn't she just been honest with me? How would Lucius even know that his wife felt that way towards me? But the one question that stood out from all the rest was the endless question of what I should do next.

Once again, a loud bang could be heard all through the manor. Obviously Lucius had had enough of his wife and was going somewhere as far away as possible. The only sound I could hear for a short while was my own, unsteady, breathing; however, after a few moments the click of Narcissa's heels on the stone floor heading back towards me echoed through the door which was still partially open.

Should I say something when she re-entered the room? No, that would make it seem as though I had been listening... well, I had been listening, but she didn't need to know that – besides, I had to think things through and give myself time to process everything I had just heard. I was still in shock and discussing my feelings would only make things more complicated if it happened too soon. I composed myself as quickly as I could, and just in time as Narcissa re-entered the room and, this time, ensured the door closed fully behind her. She lingered by the door for a moment, swaying slightly and clutching onto the wooden frame. She distinctly reminded me of a ragdoll; too weak to hold herself up properly, but with the right surface she would eventually get her balance.

"I'm so sorry about that." Her voice was horse from the shouting match that had just taken place and her back was still turned to me, "Like I mentioned before, Lucius isn't handling things well at all. It appears you caught him on a bad day." Slowly she turned and returned to her seat beside me.

"It's alright, I understand. I'm sure it's quite tense around here at the moment. Not many people are going to understand how sorry you are." She smiled slightly but I could see the strain on her face. "Listen, Mrs Malfoy, if you want me to leave you just have to say so and I will. I wouldn't want to be getting in the way and making a nuisance of myself."

"No of course not, I enjoy your company Ginny. But, I know that you're probably feeling a little uncomfortable right now. If you want to leave you may." I was going to deny it but the knowing look in her eyes stopped me in my tracks.

"I suppose I'll see you tomorrow then."

"I'll meet you in the library."

One floo journey later and I was home, about to start another sleepless night; I only hoped this time I would be able to create a little more peace of mind for myself.


	5. Tell Me What To Do

**Disclaimer: **No I do not own anything that you recognise and I have no intention of taking credit for it.

**Note: **Hello my beautiful readers! So, this is a short one since I've not had much free time but I think it's turned out quite well. I've started to touch on some of the questions that I've been asked but if they've not been fully answered yet then don't worry, I will get there! I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it and, if you wish, leave me a review to let me know what you think. Constructive criticism is always welcome so that I can continue to make my work the best it can be for you all.

Love always

~ Shadow of a Black Rose xxx

**Warning: **The intimacy levels in this are getting a little higher and things are heating up a bit. Still fairly tame for me though so don't worry if you're missing my smutty work, this is hopefully going to be heading in that direction at some point soon.

~.~.~.~.~.~

A week had passed and neither Narcissa nor I had mentioned the events of that first day; although I considered mentioning it every day I just couldn't be the one to cause yet another awkward atmosphere. Everything had been going so well that I almost thought she'd forgotten all about it: she was always smiling, laughing and cheerful – No one would ever believe the state her life was actually in. But somewhere deep inside me, I knew it couldn't stay that way forever. What I'd heard had been chewing away at my insides every time I stopped myself from asking about it. I needed to know if it had been true; I needed to know if she really did have feelings for me or if I had simply misinterpreted what Lucius had said. But how was I supposed to know if I couldn't even bring the subject into conversation?

"I was thinking we could move away from the usual syllabus and do some dance lessons today." Narcissa chirped as she glided into the room in that effortless way of hers. I had been dreading the day that she'd finally want to start on all that sort of stuff. I'd been doing so well at avoiding it. I even thought there was a chance that she had changed her mind – apparently not.

"Mrs Malfoy, do we really have to? I mean, I know I said I would, but it just seems so pointless when I could be focusing on something I'm actually likely to use."

"Ginny, please" She sighed "we've had this discussion before and we both know who won that."

"I know, but..."

"No. There is no 'but' in this discussion." I had to admit, I did like it when she got a bit forceful. As much as I loved the sweet, friendly Narcissa her fiery side definitely appealed to me in an obscure sort of way.

With a flick of her wand the centre of the library was completely cleared. Each bookshelf that had stood there slid from its allotted place and lined itself along the walls like soldiers taking formation and the emerald and silver rug that was lay on the floor rolled itself into a neat cylinder and perched itself between two of the bookshelves. The room was even larger than I had always thought and with the empty space that now made up the library the light from that one tall window seemed to spread even further and brighter in the usually dark and gothic tomb of a house. One more flick of Narcissa's wand and a melody drifted beautifully and delicately through the air and around the room. It resonated off of every surface and twirled around every inch of the air. Narcissa closed her eyes, a small smile playing on her lips as she swayed ever so slightly to the tune.

"I love this song." She whispered. I couldn't help the grin that spread across my face; she was just so damn adorable that I couldn't stop myself. Even as she opened her eyes again I couldn't wipe the stupid smile from my face. "What? You'll need to learn to take in music like that as well if you ever want to be able to dance properly." She was playing with me. She knew I wasn't all that interested in learning to dance so she was getting as much fun out of it as she possibly could. It was typical of her really.

"Well, come on then. If you're going to make me learn then you might as well start teaching me." She smirked and stepped a little closer.

"Put your hand on my shoulder."

"Wait. What?"

"Well how else do you suggest I teach you to dance Miss Weasley? I don't see any male dancers around here, do you?" I blushed a little. I thought she might have enlisted the help of Draco or possibly one of his friends; never in my wildest dreams had I thought she would be dancing with me herself. I could feel the heat rising in my face and tried desperately to compose myself. All at once a million thoughts started niggling away in my mind: how was I going to be so close to her and keep my emotions at bay? What was she thinking right now? Had she been planning this all along? Was this why she had wanted to teach me all of this useless stuff in the first place? Finally Lucius' voice swam into my mind: _"Chasing after that filthy mudblood Evans girl..." _Was that what all of this was about? Was it possible that I, somehow, reminded Narcissa of Harry's mother and that was why she was doing all of this for me; hoping that, in return, she could regain some link with the woman she had once loved? _"We both know the reason you're teaching the Weasley girl Narcissa and it has nothing to do with her NEWTs or our social status!" _I couldn't stop wondering about it. I mean, I'd been considering most of these questions for the past week but now it seemed I needed the answers more urgently than ever.

I placed my hand on her shoulder as instructed, albeit a little hesitantly. My eyes were fixed on the floor; this was going to be hard enough without having to look into her eyes. Her left arm slid to my waist and a sharp tingle shot up my spine. If I hadn't known any better I could have sworn that it was one of my daydreams, but it was too real for that to be true. She took my other hand in hers and held it up in the correct position; at least, I think it was the correct position. I wasn't really paying full attention to what was going on, I was too focused on the fact that I was actually touching her. Obviously, it wasn't quite how I had imagined, but the feeling of her soft, dainty hand in mine and the other on my waist still made me dizzy with excitement. We were close too; closer than ever before. My heart was beating so loudly I was almost certain she could hear it. It was totally unreal, and yet something about it was exactly how I had imagined it would be.

"Listen to the music," She whispered, her lips almost brushing my ear and stray blonde hairs tickling my cheek "feel it and move with it. Just follow my lead."

We began to dance; well, Narcissa began to dance. I stumbled and tripped in the general direction I was supposed to be moving in – I never was the most graceful girl. After a while of making a fool of myself though I began to get the hang of it. It wasn't as hard as I had thought it would be.

"I knew you could do it." Of course she did. She knew I could do it, because she knew everything. She seemed to know everything at least; well, everything about me, anyway. It had crossed my mind that she may have been delving in my mind. I was perfectly aware that she was capable of it, but I didn't think she would actually do it – not to me.

My eyes still hadn't left the floor; I was too scared to look up. I didn't trust myself. My feelings towards her were too strong. I simply couldn't be trusted to control myself. I could feel her watching me though, those icy eyes staring right into my soul; directly at the inner workings of my heart. How was she so calm if she really did have feelings for me? It just didn't make sense.

"Ginny, is everything alright?" 'Damn' I thought to myself, she must finally have realized that my fixation with the floor wasn't just concentration.

"I'm fine."

"Look at me." I couldn't. I wouldn't. But I had to. I couldn't say no to her. Slowly I lifted my eyes up until they met hers. It was only then that I noticed how close we had actually gotten. We were staring directly into each other's faces, our noses almost touching. I could feel her sweet, warm breath dancing across my skin. Every cell in my body was sighing simultaneously; my own breathing was getting heavier. 'Oh Merlin' I thought to myself 'I knew this was a bad idea!' But it was too late for second thoughts. It was too late to stop now. I lifted my hand and gently traced the line of her jaw with my fingers, my eyes still locked on hers. I was totally lost in her; staring into the depths of her pupils; it felt as though I was falling into nothingness, yet I was happier than I'd ever been in my life. I leaned in towards her, our lips almost touching. I felt her wrap both arms around my waist. We were so close now that every inch of our bodies were touching. It seemed that we were made to fit together in this way. We were like jigsaw pieces that would only fit into one another. Her heart was racing against mine, our chests heaving in unison, our breath mingling between us. Then it finally happened. She closed the space between us and pressed her lips gently to mine. My god, it was like nothing I'd ever felt before. My dreams had been so far from the truth I almost forgot them entirely. At that moment we were the only two people in the world – that is, until I realized what was happening and where we were. I pulled away as quickly as I could and strode over to the window.

"I... I'm sorry Mrs Malfoy. I shouldn't have done that." My head was pressed against the glass, my eyes fixed on the sun that was just disappearing behind the forest that surrounded the Manor.

"No Ginny, I'm sorry. You obviously didn't want that to happen. I was being selfish. I..."

"No. I wanted it to happen. Merlin, you have no idea how much I wanted it to happen; but it can't. You're married; you have a son that's older than me. We can't... I shouldn't feel... What if someone had walked in and seen us?" I just didn't know what else to say. I didn't want to say any of it but deep inside I knew that this couldn't happen. For all I knew, Narcissa's feelings for me weren't real. All of this could simply have been brought on by the stress of everything she and her family were going through; and even I knew that in the end I was only going to get myself hurt. "I'm sorry." I murmured. Tears had sprung up in my eyes and were slowly beginning to seep from the corners and roll down my cheeks. I could see my own faint reflection in the window. My hair was ruffled, my lips swollen, my cheeks were blotchy and my nose red. At the time, I didn't really know why I was torturing myself. It seemed to me that I would have been so much happier if I just stopped fighting it, but I knew it would be wrong to break up a family because of my own stupid desires.

"Please don't... I can't go through this again. I can't lose someone I love again." She was right behind me. I could see her hovering there, a distorted ghost in the sunlit glass. She was crying too, but it was so much more attractive on her. Her hand was outstretched just over my shoulder, as if she wanted to touch me but something was stopping her. I turned my head slightly to the side, avoiding looking into her face.

"I don't know what to do."

~.~.~.~.~.~

I lay on a hill a few miles from home that night long after everyone else was tucked up in bed. I remembered someone had told me when I was young that the stars held all of the answers to our problems. I couldn't see any answers though – just pretty lights that reminded me of her eyes and the celestial glow of the moon like the golden glow of her hair.

I had run away from Narcissa not long after our kiss – too scared to stay when I didn't trust myself to do the right thing. I had left us both to wonder how this would all work out. I had no idea how I was supposed to choose: Should I do the right thing and stay away for good? Or should I follow my heart despite the pain it would cause for others?

I needed an answer that no one could give me. Staring up at those stars all I could do was pray that they really did hold all the answers.

"Tell me what to do."


	6. Forgetting all Inhibitions

**Disclaimer: **As always, I don't own the stuff you recognise.

**Note: **Hello my lovelies! New chapter for you, and fairly quickly considering the time of year. Aren't you a lucky bunch ;) I feel I really should apologise for the fact that this one is a little bit chatty but I promise it was necessary, otherwise I wouldn't have written it that way. Enjoy and review, if you so wish.

Love always

~ Shadow of a Black Rose xxx

**Warning: **Slightly steamy Lesbian-ness coming your way, if you don't like it don't read. Actually, if you don't like it then I suggest that you give up on this story all together as it's probably just going to get a lot worse and may even end up a little pornographic... there is a reason I rated it M you know...

~.~.~.~.~.~

Ginny,

I know that I am probably the last person you wish to hear from at the moment. If I were in your position I probably wouldn't even be reading this letter – stubborn as I am. But I hope that you are reading this, if only to hear me out before cutting all contact with me.

I never meant to make life hard for you Ginny. I can only imagine what has been going through your mind; you're probably confused, afraid and feeling rather lost thanks to my inability to control myself. However, I refuse to apologise for what I did. I can't help that I fell in love with you and I wouldn't change it for the world. You truly are an exceptional young lady and I consider myself extremely lucky to know you.

I don't love my husband Ginny, I never have. I know that must be hard for you to understand, but I was never given the option of love. My mother chose Lucius as my husband long before I was even aware of what love was. She chose him for his money and power, knowing that it would make me the perfect little socialite and housewife. But I never wanted to be the person that she wanted me to be.

Of course, this is all far too much to explain in one letter. I wonder if you would possibly consider meeting me to talk about everything. I know that you probably don't feel comfortable being alone with me, but the only way that we will ever be able to get past this is if we discuss it.

Please write back to me soon Ginny, I miss your presence in my life.

Forever yours,

Narcissa.

I had read the letter over and over but I didn't know how to reply. I should have expected this sort of letter really, I hadn't been back to lessons for the past few days and, of course, she was beginning to worry. Didn't she understand why I couldn't go back? Didn't she understand that I didn't trust myself around her? I loved her with all my heart, but I couldn't cause more distress for a family that had already fallen so far from grace. But, I loved her. It didn't matter how hard I tried to pretend that I didn't – my heart always reminded me of my love for her every time it did a little back flip at just the mention of her name.

Maybe it would have been easier if I'd just stopped contacting her. Maybe, if I hadn't written back, I would have met a girl my own age who I loved just as much. Maybe I would have married that other girl and lived happily ever after. But I wasn't living a fairytale and I knew I would never give up on a chance for Narcissa and I to be together, no matter how much I tried to suppress my feelings for her.

Narcissa,

You're right; we really do need to talk about this. Meet me in The Leaky Cauldron tomorrow morning.

Ginny.

I debated with myself over whether the note sounded too impersonal or not. I didn't want her to think I was angry with her, but then I didn't want to sound overly friendly in case Lucius or Draco got hold of it. In the end I simply decided that it would have to do and so I gave it to Errol, the family owl, and sent it on its way. Having done so, I threw myself down on my bed and lay there, staring at the ceiling. What if this was it? What if I was actually going to get to call her mine? I tried not to think about it; I didn't want to get my hopes up too much in case it was all just my imagination. It would be just my luck to go in there with my heart wide open and to have her cut me down and say it could never happen again.

~.~.~.~.~.~

I waited in a shadowed corner of The Leaky Cauldron the next morning, so that no one would be tempted to eavesdrop on our conversation once Narcissa arrived. If there was one thing I'd learned from being friends with Harry for so many years, it was how to use the darkness to my advantage. However, I probably hadn't even needed to take the precaution as barely anyone was in the quaint little pub that morning. An old, shabby looking wizard was slumped at the bar with his head resting on his arms, dozing in the drunken haze of the night before and two young French witches sat gossiping over their breakfast at a table close to the door; but apart from that the place was completely deserted. The bar keeper Tom kept glancing over at my corner as if deliberating over whether to come and ask if he could get me anything or not – I just locked my gaze on the door, in the hope that he'd get the message and leave me well alone.

It felt like an eternity passed before Narcissa finally slipped through the door, clearly trying to remain as discrete as she possibly could. She looked more beautiful than ever. Even with her efforts to remain hidden she still seemed to shine out in the low lighting of the room and her presence was inescapable. Her black lace dress hugged her petite figure beautifully and her black leather boots clicked, as always, on the flagstone floor, drawing a look from the French girls whose conversation had been interrupted as she stepped through the door. The golden curls of Narcissa's hair that were usually just clipped loosely behind her head on our encounters, were pinned up in a bun at the back of her head with just a few curls framing her face and leaving the pale flesh of her neck and cheeks to shine in the low lamp light. She looked around her for a moment before spotting me in my shaded corner and, trying to step as quietly as she could, glided over to me and sat herself down.

"I'm sorry it took me so long to get here." She whispered, pulling a pair of black leather gloves from her dainty little hands, "Lucius was having a bad morning."

"Oh." So we were already confronting the issue of her husband – I began to wonder if maybe this had been a bad idea after all. As always, Narcissa seemed to perceive my discomfort easily as she immediately flinched at my disappointment.

"I'm sorry. I know he's not your favourite topic of conversation."

"What do you want me to say Mrs Malfoy? I'm not overly thrilled about the situation we're in at the minute." I was trying to look anywhere but directly into her eyes; but it was just so tempting for my gaze to wonder there that I couldn't avoid it. She didn't even attempt to avoid looking at me.

"So we're back to 'Mrs Malfoy' now are we? I thought we'd agreed that was far too formal considering..."

"Yes, well I think that's the only way we can handle this until we're both totally honest about how we feel. And since I don't see that happening any time soon, yes, we are back to 'Mrs Malfoy'." She smirked slightly but said nothing. "What?" I snapped, "This isn't funny Narcis... Mrs Malfoy. I love you – there, I said it. I love you with all my heart and you're acting like this is some sort of game that you play when you get bored."

"I know Ginny. I've known you loved me for a very long time and I'm sorry if you think I'm playing games, but I can assure you I most certainly am not." I was about to ask what she was talking about but she cut me off before I could even move my lips to speak. Her features had softened into that familiar smile and I was finding it hard to keep up my act of cold formality. "It doesn't matter how I know, I just do. Ginny I would never use you for my own amusement and I never make my feelings for someone known unless I know for certain that it is what I want. I meant what I said in my letter. I really am in love with you – but it's complicated. Just as you've said before I am technically married and there is a rather large age difference between us. It doesn't matter to me of course, but others may wish to pass comment and I'm not sure you're ready to handle that just yet."

"Anythin' I can ge' you ladies?" Tom seemed to have finally plucked up the courage to come over, although I wished he'd chosen a better moment to have done so. He was looking rather suspiciously from myself to Narcissa and back again. I should have asked her to meet me somewhere quieter; how had I managed to overlook the issue that Tom knew everyone and would obviously poke his nose in when seeing a friend of the wizarding world's saviour hidden in a dark corner with the wife of a former Death Eater?

"No thank you." Narcissa muttered; I simply shook my head.

"You'll 'ave to buy somethin' if you want ta stay 'ere." He pointed out.

"Fine, I'll just have a glass of water." I hissed. I was not in the mood to deal with his meddlesome interference. He grunted and walked back to the bar; peeking over his shoulder as he went to make sure we weren't up to anything that he'd simply missed when stood by us. A silence spread over our little corner as he departed. Narcissa had said what she wanted to say and I couldn't think of a way to answer that wouldn't end in me kissing her.

"Please say something Ginny."

"Tell me about Lily Potter." I don't know why I thought of Lily at that precise moment. Maybe I was just trying to work everything out in my head before making any final decisions on whatever future lay ahead for Narcissa and I. In any case, the little colour that had been in her face was washed away in an instant. Her lips parted slightly, as if she was preparing to answer me, but no words came. Her eyes flicked away from my face for the first time since her arrival and I could have sworn that she had looked over to a specific table on the other side of the room; although it happened so fast, it may have just been a trick of my mind.

"I... I don't know what you mean." She stuttered. Her hand whipped up to the back of her neck and she began to rub it furiously. She may have been able to hide things from anyone else, but I could see the inner turmoil she was suffering at the thought of hiding this from me.

"Please don't lie to me Narcissa. You know as well as I do that I heard your argument with Lucius on our first lesson. I heard what he said about Lily. I'm just... I'm just trying to figure you out." Another silence fell. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes.

"I didn't want you to find out like that. I did ask Lucius to be quiet, but when he gets into one of his rages... Well, that doesn't matter now." She paused, now staring into her lap where her hands fidgeted tirelessly. "When I was at school, I was in the same year as Lily. We were often in the same classes and more than once we ended up sat next to one another. She was always so sweet to me; not like the other Gryffindor brats who treated me like vermin simply because I was in Slytherin. Lily actually got to know me as a person; she didn't pass judgement or assume that she knew me before even speaking to me - and I fell in love with her. Of course, my family hated it, she was everything they despised: a mudblood, a Gryffindor and a nice person – not to mention the fact that she was female. Andromeda was the only one who really supported my love for her. She always was the understanding one in the family. Anyway, I never got the chance to tell Lily how I felt. Mother decided to announce my engagement to Lucius as soon as she found out about my feelings for Lily and I was forced to go around school acting like I was totally in love with a boy I barely knew. There was no way for me to tell Lily while I was engaged to someone else so I kept quiet and as soon as I left school I was forced to marry him and start the life my mother wanted me to have. Needless to say, I was miserable. I was constantly thinking about her, and when Lucius told me about what the Dark Lord did to her I cried for months. That's how Lucius found out. I didn't even tell him, he worked it out for himself. But that's also part of why I saved Harry in the Battle. I know it's what Lily would have wanted me to do. I spent years trying to forget about her without any success – until I met you." I blushed slightly but tried to stay on topic, she wasn't going to sweet talk me that easily.

"But why did you marry him? Why didn't you do what your sister did and defy your family's wishes? Why didn't you choose your happiness over what people thought of you?" She just shook her head and I understood. Of course she couldn't have defied them; I had already answered my own question. Andromeda had already run off and left the family, and Narcissa was too good a person to put her family through that a second time. Not to mention the fact that a few years later Bellatrix was locked up in Azkaban.

Another question popped into my head out of the blue: Was this why she fell in love with me? Was I just a replacement for Lily? But I wasn't sure if I could ask that. I didn't want to upset her. Luckily, as always, she knew exactly what I was thinking.

"Of course you're not her replacement Ginny. How could you possibly think such a thing? You and Lily are two very different people. I fell in love with you because you're feisty; you're not afraid of anyone or anything and you'll always fight for what you believe in. I suppose in some respects you are quite like Lily, but that's merely a coincidence."

"How do you keep doing that?" It was a pathetic question really, but it was all I could think to say. It had been annoying me ever since the first time we started talking that she always knew exactly what I was thinking. She looked at me for a moment and began to laugh. "What? What's so funny?"

"Oh nothing, it's just funny. Most of the time I don't even realize I'm doing it."

"Doing what?"

"Remember how I managed to lie to the Dark Lord without any detection? Well, that's because I'm rather skilled at occlumensy, which means I can also..."

"...read minds, of course!" How had I not seen it before? She was a powerful witch, I had always known that. Of course she could read my mind. "Wait a minute; I did not say you could read my mind!" I was trying to seem angry, it was a totally invasion of my privacy, but it was just so funny that I couldn't keep the smile from my face.

"I'm sorry. Like I said, sometimes I'm not even aware I'm doing it. It's like I'm hearing your half of a silent conversation and turning it into a real one." She smirked again, "You know, I'm not sure how worried I should be that you finished my sentence for me just then. Isn't that the sort of thing that couples do?" Damn, I had not meant to do that. There was no way I could continue denying it after that, we were truly meant to be together – everything between us was continuing to prove that. I couldn't pretend any more – and I didn't want to.

"So, what are we going to do Narcissa? I think we've just about come to the conclusion that we both want the same thing, no matter how wrong it is."

"Well, how about we start with this." Her hand slid over the damp and worn surface of the wooden table and entwined itself with my own. That tingling feeling of her skin on mine spread through me like a fire, setting every nerve in my body alight. Our legs stroked against each other under the table and I could feel my mind begin to become clouded in the haze that was Narcissa.

"What are we supposed to do about our families? Your husband? Draco?"

"Don't think about that now. We'll worry about them when they become a realistic issue rather than a theoretical one." She always knew how to put my mind at ease and for that moment I put all obstacles to the back of my mind – it was just me and her.

Within seconds Narcissa had edged round to my side of the table and was practically pulling me on top of her. The hand that had been holding mine was now caressing my cheek softly and the other was wrapped around my waist. Our lips were locked in a fierce battle, as if we were seeing which of us could climb entirely into the other's mouth first.

"What - if someone - sees?" I muttered between kisses. I was almost certain that Tom was still watching us like a hawk, just waiting for a bit of gossip to spread throughout the wizarding world to stir up some trouble.

"We'll deal with it when it becomes an issue." Her hands had both slid to grasp at my hips, my own were frantically pulling pins from her bun, trying to free the golden waterfall of hair from its prison.

"You know, we really should find somewhere a little more private" I giggled, my lips still pressed to hers.

It was then that we realised that we were no longer alone. A gruff cough sounded just above us and we jumped apart to find Tom staring down at us – a stupid lecherous grin painted on his usually kind face and a glass of grubby looking water in his hand.

"Well ladies, seems like I walked in on somefing privet 'ere doesn' it. Would eiver of you lovely ladies care to explain to me what's goin on?"

"That, sir, is none of your concern." Narcissa huffed indignantly, trying her best to straighten her bun while I re-adjusted my clothing.

"Oh bu' y'see Mrs Malfoy, I fink it is. And d'ya know what else? I fink your 'usband would be very interested in what you and Miss Weasley 'ere 'ave been getting up to this morning."

"You wouldn't dare!" I hissed. I don't know what it was but something seemed to snap at his thinly veiled threat. No one threatened my Narcissa and got away with it – no one!


	7. Behind The Mask

**Disclaimer: **Characters aren't mine... neither is anything else linked to the Harry Potter series. Please don't kill me for being a fan! ;)

**Note: **Hey! New chapter for you all and this one is loooooong! I just wanted to take this opportunity to thank you all for your encouragement and lovely comments on the story so far. I know I don't get the chance to reply to all of you and I don't thank you enough for everything you say but I do read every single review and each one makes my day that little bit better. I especially want to thank ScOut4It who not only comments on every chapter but analyses each one in great detail and gives me some great ideas to work from. I love you all so very much and I want you to know that you really do help inspire me to keep writing. Enjoy this chapter and keep letting me know what you think.

Love always

~ Shadow of a Black Rose xxx

**Warning: **Yes it does get very steamy in this chapter so I hope you're ready for this relationship to get a little less innocent. As always, if you don't like femmeslash etc don't read it, I wouldn't want anyone to feel uncomfortable.

~.~.~.~.~.~

"Please, please no more. Please Miss Weasley, I'm sorry. I promise ya, I won't say nuffing to Mr Malfoy. Jus' please leave me be." Tom was cowering in the middle of the room with a cut lip and an almost black bruise forming around his eye. His wand lay shattered at my feet and my eyes were fixed on him, fiercely surveying the damage I'd managed to do to the pathetic excuse for a man who thought he could blackmail Narcissa and I. The bar was empty. The French witches had left long ago and the shabby old wizard, who had been woken by the harsh thud of my fist connecting with the bar tender's face, had staggered away to find a quieter place to sleep off that hideous hangover of his.

"You have got to be kidding," I hissed stooping down next to him and grabbing him roughly by the front of his shirt "why on earth should I believe a word you say. You have the audacity to threaten us and then you beg for forgiveness because a seventeen year old girl hit you a couple of times! You disgust me" I pushed him back and lifted myself from the floor a little clumsily, still glaring down at him. I didn't know what had come over me. Normally I wouldn't dream of using physical violence to solve a problem, but just the way he had leered at Narcissa as though he were better than her had made me want to rip him limb from limb.

Out of the corner of my eye I could see Narcissa sat on a table with one leg crossed over the other and a smirk painted on every inch of her face. Clearly she was enjoying the aggressive side of me; although I wasn't sure I liked it as much as she did.

"P...please Miss W...Weasley, you gotta believe me." Tom stuttered, I hadn't thought I was that scary but apparently I wasn't myself at that moment. "I'll do anyfing you want me to as proof. I'll take the unbreak'ble vow if ya wants me to."

"You're not worth the wasted magic, but just keep in mind; if you say anything I will hunt you down and finish what I've started. Understood?" He nodded his head dangerously fast and began to edge back towards the bar, banging into tables and chairs as he went.

"You know darling," I heard Narcissa purr from just over my right shoulder "I think we need to get home as quickly as possible to... well, to finish what we started before we were so rudely interrupted." She grasped my hips and spun me around so that we were once more face to face with our noses just touching and our hands tangling themselves together.

~.~.~.~.~.~

We had only been in Malfoy Manor for a few moments when Narcissa once again lost all inhibitions and pulled me into a deep and passionate kiss. Her tongue roamed around my mouth enthusiastically, as though she would never get the chance to kiss me again, and she stroked my lower back gently with the tips of her fingers.

"Shouldn't we move out of the entrance hall?" I asked as her lips left mine and began to trail down my neck "Lucius could come back at any minute." My breathing was heavy and I could feel my chest heaving against hers.

"Let him." She growled in a low and husky voice; it was the most erotic thing I had ever heard and it caused my stomach to flip over and over more times than I could possibly count. I had to admit; it gave me even more of a rush knowing that her husband could walk in at any moment and catch us draped over each other as we were – the risk made it more exciting. It made me want her even more.

Cold fingers slid under the woollen fabric of my jumper and t-shirt and Narcissa gently clawed at the skin of my back. She was once again kissing a path down my neck and across my shoulders, occasionally biting at the soft flesh. Her hands seemed to be everywhere, on every inch of my body, gently caressing it with careful adoration.

"Narcissa," I whispered, laying a hand on her cheek and guiding her eyes to meet mine, "I love you."

"I know you do darling." She gently began to back me up to the wall until I was pressed up against it with my arms pinned over my head and Narcissa playfully biting my lip. She lifted me up and wrapped my legs around her waist, sliding her hands down my body until she reached the bottom of my jumper. Slowly, I felt her peel the garment from my body and watched as she discarded it on the other side of the hall. "Go to the second floor, first room on your right." It took a moment for me to understand what she was saying. It wasn't until she placed me back down on the floor that it made any sense to me. "I'll be there in a minute."

~.~.~.~.~.~

Draco Malfoy was hiding away in his bedroom, having not left the room for the past few months. He was splayed out across his bed, arms carelessly spread out at either side of him and his eyes fixed on the ceiling. This was what his days had begun to consist of – just laying there letting time tick by while he continuously re-lived the last few years of his life in his mind, as though he were watching a muggle television programme on repeat. He still couldn't forgive himself for everything he had done. He hated himself. Of course, he hadn't really wanted to do any of it but he wanted his father to be proud of him - that was all he'd ever wanted. Looking back on everything that had happened, however, he had started to understand that it was a waste of time searching for such feelings in a man so cold. Was it even possible for his father to feel anything other than hate or smugness? Somehow, Draco seriously doubted it. But then he considered his mother; hadn't his father always loved her? He remembered as a child how daddy would always bring mummy presents – flowers, jewellery, expensive and extravagant clothes; but was that really all there was to love? He also remembered how he would lie awake in his bed at night and hear his parents screaming at one another. In fact, more than once, he had witnessed his mother thrown to the floor when his father could no longer outwit her – she always had been the more intelligent one in their relationship. No, his father couldn't possibly love his mother; he would never harm her if he did, Draco was sure of it.

Draco then began to wonder about his mother and whether she had ever loved his father. Well, that was an easy answer – no. She had made no secret of how much she despised the man she had been forced to marry. There had been numerous nights when she had snuck into Draco's bedroom and woke him up so that she didn't feel so alone in the large and empty manor house. She had told Draco how he was the only thing that kept her sane around Lucius Malfoy and how she needed him to stay with her forever or she would surely be forced to go to extreme measures in order to remove Lucius from her life. She had lied though. It was clear to Draco that his mother no longer needed him to keep her sane – she had found someone else to do that. He knew why his mother liked the Weasley girl; he had heard the fights his parents had had about her recently. That girl was the reason his mother no longer needed him. He hated her for it. Draco had always believed that the one thing that would always remain consistent in his life was his mother. He had always thought that she would need him no matter what, but apparently he was wrong.

A soft knock on the door broke the silence of the room and Draco's thoughts melted back into nothingness. He sat up and stared at the door in confusion. No one had come to see him in such a long time that he had almost forgotten how to handle such a situation. Another knock resonated through the air and Draco realised what he was supposed to do.

"Come in." His voice was horse from the lack of exercise it had been given since he shut himself up in his room. Gently the door swung open and Narcissa slipped into her son's room, her heels clicking slightly louder than normal on the wooden floor.

"Draco, i need you to do something for me." He didn't answer. His mind was clouded from the shock of seeing his mother after such a long time; but what worried him more was that she didn't look like herself. Obviously her face was the same but there was something behind her eyes that had changed. She no longer seemed sad or lonely. There was a fire burning behind the crystal blue pools that hadn't been there the last time the pair had come face to face. But why was that a bad thing? Surely he should have been pleased that his mother was happy – if that's what you're thinking then I'm afraid you are very much mistaken. You see, Draco knew what was going to happen between Narcissa and Ginny Weasley long before the pair even knew it themselves. Even from the first time the two women had met he had seen the lustful glances, he had heard the longing sighs and the words whispered when his mother thought no one was listening. He had even sensed Ginny's desperation to be around his mother as much as was physically possible. He hated it. And he hated that now his worst fears had become a reality. It was clear that they had finally figured out what he had known all along and now it was going to ruin everything in his life even further. "Draco?"

"Y...yes mother, what is it you need me to do?"

"Listen darling, I need you to go and find your father. I need you to make sure he stays out of the house for a few hours. Can you do that for me sweetheart?" He clenched his teeth fiercely. It had only been a matter of time until this happened, until he was used to keep their 'relationship' a secret from his father.

"She's here again isn't she." He hissed. Narcissa frowned, trying to act as though she had no idea what he was talking about. She was still blissfully unaware that he knew everything.

"I don't know what you mean darling. I just..."

"Don't lie to me mother! Ginny Weasley. She's here again isn't she! What, are you two giving up on keeping it a secret now? Just thought you'd have a quick fuck in father's house and to hell with the fact that you're married and well over twice her age!" Narcissa was frozen to the spot, her mouth hanging open in an almost comical gasp that never fully formed. She blinked a few times before recovering her cool demeanour, but the question still played in her mind.

"How did... I mean, how do you know about that?"

"Simple, I'm observant and you're not as discrete as you seem to think you are." Draco inclined his head to the knitted jumper that was clutched in his mother's hands. He swung his legs over the side of the bed and planted his feet firmly on the floor, staring directly into Narcissa's eyes. "I won't let you continue this mother. It will tear this family apart for good; we already have enough to deal with, as you well know, without you going off with some blood traitor filth."

"Don't call her that!" She hissed. "Draco this has never been a family. This is two people who were forced together and had a child because it was their duty. You know I love you more than life itself but if you force me to choose between my own happiness and yours, I will choose my own. I have given up too much for the sake of others and I am through being miserable." She was absolutely fuming. Draco had never seen his mother loose her composure before and it frightened him. He was genuinely scared for his own safety. His whole life he had thought it was his father that he ought to fear but now, faced with the anger of his mother, it was clear he had been wrong. "Please darling," she whispered, still a little angry but with a softer tone to her voice "please try to understand why I need this."

"You said you only needed me. You told me I was the one who kept you sane." His voice seemed to have become distant, as though he had just woken from a deep sleep and was trying to have a conversation without being fully aware of what he was saying. Narcissa sighed.

"Of course I still need you my love, but Ginny gives me something that you never could." Draco's eyes wandered to the floor, he knew there was nothing more he could say to change her mind. "Please Draco. Please do this for me."

"You've never been happy with him have you?"

"No. But I'm happy now."

"O... okay then – I'll keep him away" with that he slumped out of the room, simply accepting that he couldn't change her mind. What he would tell his father he didn't know, but he'd come up with something; he always had been a good liar.

~.~.~.~.~.~

I sat alone in Narcissa's room for a long time before she came back; well, I assumed it was her room at least. It was much brighter and less daunting than the rest of the manor seemed to be. An enormous Victorian four poster bed with ornate patterns of flowers carved on almost every surface and charmed to glow in pastel colours was pushed up against the furthest wall, directly opposite the door. It was furnished with beautiful white silk sheets, and lace curtains that seemed to alternate colours depending on the mood within the room surrounded it. To the left of the bed two doors were stood just ajar, revealing the inside of the biggest wardrobe I had ever seen, with walls lined with beautiful, elegant dresses that had clearly been designed by Narcissa herself as each one was totally unique to anything I had ever seen in a shop. Everything in the room seemed to follow a pattern of colour and light – everything that was absent from the rest of the manor.

When Narcissa entered I was sat in a plush pink armchair by the large set of windows to the right of the bed, watching a small figure below leaving the manor at a rather hurried pace. At first I had thought I was seeing things, given that Narcissa had told me how withdrawn Draco had become – hiding away in his room for days on end, but as I watched the blonde head bob away down the garden path it was clear that today the Malfoy boy had decided to go out. I turned my head to the door at the sound of Narcissa's heels clicking on the wooden floor to find her looking paler than usual as she tottered towards the bed and sat heavily down on it.

"Is everything alright?" It was a stupid question really; of course everything wasn't alright – any idiot could see that. Why did I lose all sense and logic when it came to her?

"Draco knows." She murmured. Her eyes were staring blankly ahead of her and she was absent-mindedly playing with a loose thread on my jumper that was still clutched in her tiny hands. "He knows about us. I don't know how he found out. We were so careful until today... unless... you don't think that bar tender would have..."

"Of course not, I told him what would happen if he said a word to anyone. He wouldn't dare go against that." I took a deep breath, fear filling every inch of my body. If Draco knew then what would happen to us? Was that why he had been in such a rush? Was he going to tell his father everything? Once Lucius had proof of what had been going on there was nothing to stop him from harming us both in any way he could. I didn't believe for a minute that he was totally against physically assaulting a woman – especially one who had become so close to his wife. I was shaking all over. Maybe it hadn't been such a good idea to get so close to Narcissa. Maybe I should have kept my love for her a secret. But even in my terror I didn't believe that would have made the situation any better. I would still have been hurt, only it would have been emotional rather than physical. "Is he going to tell your husband?" Each word was laced with worry despite my attempts to act as though everything was okay.

"No, I managed to talk him out of it. He wanted to; but no, I changed his mind."

"So where was he going just now?"

"To keep Lucius out of the way." I could tell she was still concerned about the secret being out. I hadn't expected such a drastic attitude change from the woman who, only an hour ago, was practically undressing me in the middle of a pub. Slowly, I lifted myself from my seat and walked over to the bed. I hooked a finger under her chin and tilted her head up until we were looking directly into each other's eyes.

"Everything's going to be okay." I didn't fully believe it myself, but I knew she needed some sort of reassurance. From the small smile the tinted her features I assumed it must have worked – although she may have simply been humouring me. I sat down next to her and gently and slid my jumper from her grasp; throwing it to one side and allowing it to drop to the floor like an apple from a tree.

"How do you know that?" She whispered, having moved close enough that our thighs were pressed together. "You have no reason to trust that my son will do as he said he would."

"He's your son Narcissa, and because of that I trust that he will stay true to his word. I'm sure you brought him up to do as he promises he will."

Within a moment she had pushed me back on the bed and straddled my waist, planting a line of kisses from my cheek to the nape of my neck. She tugged at the bottom of my t-shirt and within moments it had joined my jumper on the floor. Her kisses trailed further down my body, over my breasts and down to my stomach where she spent a great deal of time licking and nipping at the flesh, extracting slight whimpers from my slackened lips. It felt as though I was losing all control of myself; I could no longer suppress the noises that leaked from my own throat as she engulfed my entire consciousness. When I finally managed to scrape back come sense of awareness I realised that Narcissa's dress and my jeans had joined the increasingly large pile of clothing at the side of the bed and she was eagerly tugging at the waistband of my underwear. I obediently lifted my hips and allowed her to slide the scrap of material down my long pale legs and throw it to the pile of clothing. She slid down between my legs and at once began to lick and suck the sensitive flesh like a hungry animal that had just been granted its first meal in months.

"Cissa" I whispered, barely able to catch my breath as I arched my back and clung to her hair that seemed to have been freed from the confines of its bun at some point during the past few minutes.

"Hmm" her response sent a wave of vibrations through my body causing me to gasp in pure ecstasy and bite my lip to silence the scream that threatened to escape into the large, empty and echoing manor. I could feel her smirking, clearly pleased with my reactions but the pause didn't last long; before I knew what was going on two of her fingers were inside me gently rocking in and out as Narcissa's lips claimed mine once more. I could taste myself on her, sweet and slightly tangy. She swallowed each moan, gasp and panting breath that escaped my mouth, kissing each one away with the greatest ease until everything around me went black, then gold and finally I awoke to the soft haze of the pastel room and the feel of that beautiful woman's warm breath tickling my neck.

"Well, that certainly was something." I giggled. I looked down at her curled up in my arms. She was more beautiful than ever. Her eyes seemed to sparkle as they looked up into mine and a smile graced her lips that told me she was truly happy – a smile I very rarely saw when we were in the presence of others. Her pale skin, although not un-blemished, was still more radiant than I could ever have imagined. Her usually pristine golden curls were knotted here and there rolling over her shoulders and down her back like a river running through a forest. Her curves were highlighted by the sunlight shining in through the window and it seemed to make her glow, an ethereal light that almost had me convinced that she truly was an angel sent to me by whatever higher power controlled this little world.

"Agreed." Narcissa's head was gently tucked into the curve of my neck and her legs were entangled with my own. "You certainly are something Ginny. I don't know why but you do something to me that I can't explain. It's like I don't have to pretend around you; you have no idea how strange that is for someone who has been playing a part that is not her own for her entire life." Her fingers gently traced the line of my hip bone as she spoke leaving tiny red marks as her nail slid along the skin.

"Surely you haven't been a totally different person for your entire life." I muttered planting a kiss on the top of her head. "I mean, a small part of you must play a part in the decisions you make and the way you are, otherwise you wouldn't be able to cope with the life you've been leading." She sighed and pulled the bed sheets up around us.

"It's not as simple as that darling."

"Narcissa..."

"Yes?" I wanted to ask her something – something that had been bothering me for a while. The only problem was I had no idea how to say it without making it sound as though I was prying into her personal business; or worse, it could sound like I was jealous and I definitely didn't want her to think that.

"I..."

'Best to just come out and say it' I thought to myself 'you'll never be able to do it if you don't do it right now.'

"You and Lucius, do you still... you know..." Urgh, I sounded like some pathetic jealous school girl. Then again, I suppose I was one. Narcissa was looking up at me smirking for a long while, then, with a little snort, she burst out laughing. "What!" Why was she laughing? I was being totally serious and she was laughing at me! I couldn't help but sound indignant at the cheek of it. It was no laughing matter. If they were still sharing a bed then I wanted to know about it.

"Oh Ginny," she gasped through her continuing giggles "can you really imagine Lucius Malfoy even setting a foot in this room?" She had a point. I couldn't imagine him anywhere that wasn't dark and depressing. "No darling, Lucius and I haven't shared a bed since our wedding night. The only link there is between us is that damned piece of paper that says I practically belong to him." She wrapped her arms tighter around my waist and placed a kiss on my cheek "But what does a silly bit of paper mean really." Was she saying what I thought she was saying? Was she really telling me that she was mine? She planted another gentle kiss on my lips then, resting her head on my shoulder and closed her eyes. It wasn't long before we had both drifted off into a peaceful sleep each dreaming of the other in total bliss.


	8. The Issue of Lucius Malfoy

**Disclaimer: **You know the drill by now; if you know it, it's most likely not mine (unless you've been reading my notebook of stories – in which case STOP STALKING ME!)

**Note: **Well, long time no speak my lovelies. I'm very sorry it's taken me so long but the usual stuff has been preventing my creativity and ability to sit for more than five seconds without either working or sleeping. So, as always I hope you enjoy this new addition to _Fire and Ice_ and leave me a review if you feel like making me a very happy death eater bunny (I don't even know what that is but it sounds cool so I'm going to be one .)

Love always

Shadow of a Black Rose xxx

**Warning: **Some small sexual references but I've tried to keep this one clean (don't get used to it; I doubt it'll happen very often!) Also a fair bit of violence and I think I may have slipped a swear word or two in there... oops ;)

~.~.~.~.~.~

As always it was freezing cold down Knockturn Alley, and rain drops the size of golf balls were falling thick and fast from the angry sky above. Draco Malfoy was huddled in a shop doorway, his arms wrapped tightly around himself, wishing he'd had the sense to wear something warmer when he was sent out to keep his father occupied. He'd been stood in the same position for over half an hour waiting for the rain to subside, wondering to himself why the wizarding world had still not come up with some way of controlling the weather.

"Why did I agree to this?" he grumbled to himself, gaining him a strange look from an old woman in a greying and ratty old cloak who happened to be scuttling past as he spoke. It occurred to him that, despite the weather, the real reason he was stood there instead of tracking down his father was because he didn't want to face the man he had been trying to avoid for so many months. Everything that had happened to him during the war was his father's fault. No. Everything that had happened to him throughout his life was his father's fault. It was his father's fault that no one really liked him, it was his father's fault that he had almost become a murderer, and now, now it was his father's fault that his mother no longer needed him. If he had just loved her like he was supposed to then she wouldn't be looking for love elsewhere. If Lucius Malfoy had been a man instead of the pathetic wimp that he was then maybe their family wouldn't be falling apart.

Fed up with wallowing in his own despair Draco strode out into the rain heading straight for Moribund's pub, his father was bound to be hiding away there with a bottle of firewhisky and some stupid young witch who had no idea what she was letting herself in for.

~.~.~.~.~.~

I woke to the feel of the bed shifting slightly as Narcissa got up. Rolling over, I caught sight of her silhouette stood by the window, holding a sheet around her with the sunlight bathing her perfect skin in an elegant glow. Her hair seemed neater than I remembered it being as we fell asleep in each other's arms, but I suppose that may have been due to my hazed mind still recovering from that sensational place of beauty she had taken me to. Slowly I sat up and began to search the floor for the clothes we had discarded in our moment of passion but they seemed to have disappeared entirely. When I looked back over to Narcissa she had turned around and was watching me carefully, as though she was trying to absorb every movement I made.

"I think the elf must have been in," she murmured, her eyes never leaving me "Our clothes seem to have disappeared which I can only assume means they have made their way into the wash."

"You still have house elves?"

"Lucius." Ah, there he was again. Lucius Malfoy, the ever present burden placing a strain on what would be a perfect love if he did not exist. But, of course, he did exist - no matter how much Narcissa and I wished he did not. I nodded mutely to show my understanding, although I never would understand how she could tolerate his presence in her life with the grace that she did. "He doesn't understand." It was said more to herself than to me. I wondered what she meant. He didn't understand how to act like a rational human being? Obviously. He didn't understand that house elves deserved freedom too? Dobby had been proof of that. He didn't understand that Narcissa needed to be loved and that, while he could happily go to whores and desperate young girls, she needed so much more? Of all the things that Lucius didn't understand that was the one that hurt me the most - not for myself but for Narcissa. How painful it must be for her having lived so many years with a man who doesn't understand what it is like to truly need love.

"Come back to bed Cissa." I didn't know what else to say. What else could I say? 'He's a moron' would have been good, but she knew that already. 'You don't need to worry about him now that you have me.' Again, a good thing to say but did it really need to be said? No, just asking her to be close to me was the right thing to say.

She glided back over and threw herself down next to me. Even after sleeping she was still radiant, the epitome of perfection. I lay back down on my side so that we were face to face, so close that I could feel her breath tickling the skin of my cheeks. Her eyes were closed, her breathing slow and soft. I placed my hand on her cheek gently, softly stroking the flesh with my thumb until she opened her eyes and locked them on mine. She seemed distant, as though her mind was elsewhere despite her heart and body lying directly before me.

"What are you thinking about?"

"Oh, nothing."

There it was. The first time we broke the silence with that one simple question. It's funny to think of it now, how it was once just an innocent question as opposed to the one constant part of our lives. Merlin, we were both so innocent. We thought it would be so easy – well, not easy as such, but easier than it turned out to be. But I'm getting distracted, and I wouldn't want to ruin the end for you.

"Narcissa, talk to me. What is it that's bothering you? You know I can tell that there's something wrong." Her eyes had flicked away from mine for a moment but they returned soon enough and she seemed to have re-entered the room from that faraway place her mind had wondered to.

"I wish I'd never married him." The regret was so clear in her voice, like the ice cold water of the lake in the grounds of the Manor. But she'd told me all of this before. Why was it bothering her so much now? She knew she had me and that I wasn't going anywhere; that I would never let Lucius Malfoy hurt her, or even touch her, ever again. So why had it suddenly become an even bigger problem? "He'll never allow this. You do know that, don't you?"

"Of course I know that he'll be unhappy about it, but what can he do to stop it? He hasn't got the connections he used to have, what could he possibly use to keep us apart?"

"But that's just it; he doesn't have the connections that he used to have. He doesn't have anything left by Draco and I. Do you really think he'll let me go that easily?" Tears were welling in her eyes. It broke my heart to see this despair in her; I had seen her cry before but never like this. Never like she would rather not carry on if it would cause her so much pain. "Darling, if he finds out he will kill you. And if he does… if I… if I lose you…" She couldn't control it any longer and the tears streamed down her cheeks freely, her eyes scrunched shut and her lips pressed so tightly together that the colour drained from them in a matter of seconds. I wrapped my arms around her neck and pulled her close to me, kissing her eyes and cheeks to try and stop the flow of tears. Each tear tasted salty on my lips but I continued to kiss each one away until she had stopped crying and was quietly curled in my arms, her own wrapped around my waist so tight that I thought my breath would stop at any given moment.

"I won't let him ruin this," I whispered, stroking her hair in a soothing way, "Narcissa I promise everything will be okay. I promise." she nodded mutely and kissed me once, slowly, lovingly, the way that I knew she had never kissed Lucius in all the years that they had been married.

"I'm sorry," she murmured, "It's just that I've never felt this way about anyone before. Lily was one thing, but this is so much more. I can't lose you Ginny."

"Well then, we'll just have to figure out what to do about your husband then won't we."

~.~.~.~.~.~

Moribund's hadn't changed much since the last time Draco had entered it in his youth. When he was seven his mother had fallen so ill that the healers weren't sure that she would live to his next birthday, so his father had been forced to babysit him for a few months. The man never had been good with children and the days on end in the pub were proof of just how clueless he was. On entering the dark, dusty room Draco's eyes immediately adjusted to the lack of light as they had done so many times before. Everything was smaller than he remembered, but the place still had an unmistakable familiarity about it. Tables were scattered here and there, most broken or rotting and shadowed even further from the weak light of the candles that burned pathetically in each corner of the room. The bar stood along one wall with dusty bottles of spirits lined behind it and rows and rows of dusty, chipped and grubby looking glasses hanging suspended in mid air above it. There were very few patrons and those that were present refused to acknowledge each other's existence - usually the clientele of a place like this consisted of those who did not want to be seen or heard in their sordid doings. On one table, practically invisible from the lack of light Draco thought he could make out the shape of a man splayed backwards across his chair as though he had been shot, it wasn't until he looked closer that Draco could make out the slight movements of a head bobbing up and down between the man's legs - somehow he wasn't surprised that some old pervert would allow a prostitute to suck him off in the middle of a bar, he supposed it must have been the fact that it was this bar and not another that made the fact so believable. Another table in the corner, a little more lighted from the candle above it, seated two faces Draco recognised; he couldn't remember their names, but then again he didn't really want to. Both men had been Death Eaters before the end of the war and Draco vaguely wondered how they had escaped Azkaban when just about every other Death Eater (bar himself and his father, thanks to his mother's good work) had found themselves hauled off as soon as the Dark Lord was defeated. Finally Draco's gaze wondered to the bar itself where they caught sight of his father, Lucius Malfoy, hunched over a row of firewhisky shots with his cane laying discarded on the floor beside him. There was a girl beside him; young, blonde, with blue eyes and a rounded figure - she couldn't have been much older than Draco (What was it with his parents dating girls his age?) At any rate, the young lady didn't look remotely comfortable, her hands fidgeting in her lap as though she couldn't wait to leap from the bar stool and pelt towards the door in a desperate bid for freedom.

Having re-familiarised himself with his surroundings Draco straightened his back (attempting to appear in better shape than he was) and strode over to the bar where he stood directly behind his father. As he approached the girl's head snapped around to face him, like a meerkat in fear of being attacked. Her eyes were wide and it took a moment for her to calm herself again. Lucius didn't look up. Typical of him, his own son was stood directly behind him and all he did was take another shot of firewhisky and slap his hand down on the girl's leg, making her flinch and grasp her hands tighter together. Draco rolled his eyes and cleared his throat - still nothing so much as a blink of acknowledgement from his father.

"Father." That did it. Slowly Lucius turned his head to face his son. It was the first time in months that Draco had seen his father and shockingly he actually looked worse than he had done at the end of the war. His skin was paler than normal and possessed an almost wax like quality that made Draco wonder if he could melt the man he had begun to despise if he managed to displease him (a possibility that was all too likely). The long blonde hair that had once been tied with a neat bow at the back of his neck had grown wild and knotted with the lack of care and his eyes were rimmed in a blood like red that appeared like tears of blood at a single glance. The man was like the walking dead.

"Draco." His voice slurred and Draco couldn't help but pity the poor pathetic man that his father had become. Once Lucius had seemed great and powerful. Once he had taken a menacing air with him wherever he went, striking others down with his sharp words and demeaning glances. Of course, he had never really been powerful at all, but now even that facade had slipped away and the Lucius Malfoy of the past was no more; instead, a snivelling, pathetic drunkard had taken his place and Draco had to ask himself why he had ever thought of this man as his 'great father'. "What are you... doing here?"

"I got sick of mother constantly sending the elves to check up on me. I thought I might join you if you have no problems with the concept of spending the evening with your only son." Lucius glance at the blonde girl who seemed to be physically cringing both at the lecherous glances from the man and the thought that she now knew for certain that he was probably old enough to be her father.

"In case you... hadn't... noticed Draco, I am... actually in the middle of... something."

"Oh please, she can't wait to get away." Draco hissed, indicating the poor girl who was desperately trying to slip from her stool to leave, thankful for the distraction of the new face that had joined them. Draco turned to her and smiled as best he could, whispering "go, he'll have forgotten you were even here within a few minutes." Gratefully the girl nodded with a half smile before grabbing her bag from the bar and bolting to the door as fast as her legs would carry her.

"Fine," Lucius shouted after her "I didn't... want you anyway. There are p... plenty more whores where you... came from." Draco took the seat recently vacated by the girl and ordered a butterbeer, only to be told that they didn't stock such "pathetic excuses for alcohol", so in the end he joined his father in taking firewhisky shots (knowing full well that he would be a mess by the morning but deciding he really couldn't care less).

"So, you're mother's being a... pain?" Lucius asked, in a vain attempt to make the meeting with his son a little less tense.

"Yeah."

"Nothing new... there then. The woman's ridiculous. No wonder her only friend at the moment is that filthy blood traitor girl." Draco stayed silent. Did his father really believe that Ginny Weasley was just his mother's friend? No, he had heard his parents fighting about the girl, his father knew his mother's intentions all too well, he just didn't have the proof to back his accusations. "Is she at... the house again?"

"I wouldn't know." Draco knew he should have been trying harder to distract his father from this topic, he had promised his mother that he would, but was it really his job to hide his mother's affair? Of course not. But still, she was his mother, the only parent who had ever cared for him - the only person who had ever cared for him - he had to help her. "Dad, where the hell did you get that girl from?"

"Who?"

"That girl, the one that was here when I came in." He smirked a little as he said it. Clearly he knew his father too well. _"He'll have forgotten you were even here within a few minutes" _Either Lucius was getting predictable or Draco really had to get out more.

"Oh... her... she was in... in that other bar. The one in the... muggle place that I like." He downed another two shots of firewhisky. "The one with... the girls."

"Well that narrows it down." Draco muttered to himself; he really did know Lucius too well - although he had been expecting a witch as opposed to a muggle. "So why did you..." He turned to finish his question but Lucius seemed to have disappeared from view. It wasn't until Draco looked down that he found his father slumped on the bar, his scraggly, loose hair dangling in the last shot that would be left un-drunk despite the galleon it had cost (prices really were extortionate since the war). Sighing, Draco turned back to the bar and began to pick at the worn and peeling paint that had once left a smooth finish on the surface - it was going to be a long evening if his father was to remain passed out.

~.~.~.~.~.~

"Arthur! Arthur, have you seen Ginny anywhere? Arthur!"

"Coming dear."

Arthur Weasley plodded across the vast and shabby garden of the burrow towards the house wondering to himself what his wife could have got herself worked up over unnecessarily this time. Ever since the war and the loss of one of her beloved children Molly Weasley had been even more nervous and worried about her brood than ever before and it was beginning to wear at Arthurs patience when she would call to him every half hour to check on the whereabouts of one of her children or another. He loved his wife, really he did, but there were times when he would gladly have swapped her for a peaceful family life. Then again, when had their family life ever been peaceful? Never. Not since the birth of the first child and certainly not since Harry Potter became a part of their lives. But, as much as he complained, Arthur knew that he would never really change his life - not for all of the money in the world.

"Arthur, for heaven's sake would you hurry up!" Molly stood in the doorway, seemingly calm aside from the tea towel that she was twisting tight in her chubby fingers - a nervous habit that she seemed to have picked up, although Arthur couldn't figure out for the life of him where from. As he reached the door, he placed a hand on his wife's arm and kissed her cheek, subtly moving her to the side so that he could make his way into the cramped kitchen and take a seat at the table in preparation for the tedious conversation that he knew would soon follow. "Well?" Molly asked, as though he was supposed to have read her mind, "Do you know where Ginny is? I've searched the whole house and I can't find her anywhere." Her cheeks were flushed and her auburn hair in a state of disarray, stray strands being blown around gently by the breeze entering through the kitchen door that had been left open.

"Molly, she left a note this morning saying she was meeting with Mrs Malfoy, you know that."

"Yes, but that was this morning, anything could have happened to her in the time she's been out. And I don't trust that woman, she's the wife of a Death Eater, Ginny isn't safe with her. I still don't understand why you agreed to our only daughter taking her lessons from that she-devil!" Arthur sighed, this argument was the same one they had been having since he had given Ginny permission to be tutored by Narcissa Malfoy; it hadn't been that long ago, only a month or so, but with this one recurring argument it felt as though his life had been on repeat for years.

"Molly, darling, the Malfoy family have changed as you well know, and that "she-devil" as you call her may be one of the only reasons that we won the war against Voldemort, not to mention she has now been kind enough to tutor Ginny for absolutely nothing. Now come on dear, you really need to stop worrying so much. Ginny is a big girl who can take care of herself. She's the same age that Ron was when you let him go off hunting for horcruxes..."

"That was different. Ron was with Harry and..."

"It is not different Molly. Ron was no safer with Harry than Ginny is with Narcissa. Now listen, love, I know it's been tough since..." a breath caught in Molly's throat and a loud sob burst free from her lips before she could stifle it; Arthur continued nonetheless, he knew she had to hear what he had to say if she was ever going to get over her issues with letting her children fend for themselves once more. "I know it's been tough since Fred died, and I know you're not quite ready to let them all free for good, but you really must stop worrying every second of the day. It's not good for your health and, quite frankly, I'm afraid I may lose the plot if I have to have this conversation one more time." She stared at him, eyes wide and lips trembling, there was something almost unhinged about her appearance and for a second Arthur thought he may have pushed her over the edge; thankfully though, she slowly began to nod her head and mumble apologies, kissing her husband over and over as if trying to make amends for hurting him terribly. She said nothing, still sniffing to hold back the tears that threatened to burst free, but Arthur knew she understood. Maybe now she would finally stop pestering him about their children's whereabouts. They sat there for a while, Molly perched on her husband's lap, before the silence was broken once more by Ron clattering down the stairs with his Auror robes knotted around his head and his arms flailing helplessly in the air.

"Just been... called into work," he continued to struggle, wrestling his way into his robes as his parents watched him in astonishment "could someone help me?" Immediately Molly leapt from Arthur's lap to Ron and began untangling the mass of material around his head.

"You see Arthur, you see the messes they can get themselves into when I'm not there to help them." She seemed convinced that Ron's minor wardrobe malfunction was proof that all of her worrying was for a very good reason and that Arthur was the one being ridiculous in making out that it was all nothing. "My poor Ronnie, it's okay darling, mummy will always be here to look after you."

"Get off me you lunatic," he mumbled as the robes fell away from his head so that they hung lopsided over his body "honestly, you were protective before but this is just getting ridiculous." With that he grabbed his wand, thrust it into his pocket and jumped in the fireplace, almost forgetting to pronounce his words clearly as he shouted "Ministry of Magic Headquarters" and disappeared in a burst of emerald flames.

Molly turned back to Arthur, still looking a little flustered, "He's right isn't he," she whispered "I'm going insane"

"Only a little dear, but I love you all the same."

~.~.~.~.~.~

Narcissa and I had spent the rest of the day in bed, just lying close together, face to face, talking about our situation. It seemed impossible. If Narcissa was right, and Lucius really would kill me if he were to find out, then the chances of my survival were limited; we had two options, neither of which appealed to either of us. The first option was to end it then and there which, as you can imagine, resulted in tears on both my part and Narcissa's - really we both knew that we could never do that, not after longing for each other for the length of time that we had. The second option, while preferable to the first, was really no better; we could try to keep the relationship a secret, but we'd already let it slip to both Draco and Tom the barkeeper, realistically there was very little chance of it remaining a secret no matter how hard we tried. It was an emotional day to say the least, only made worse when, in the evening, we heard a crash from downstairs and the roaring voice of Lucius Malfoy calling for his wife.

Narcissa's eyes widened and she immediately slipped from the bed, pinned her hair up to make it seem as though she had merely been lounging in the bedroom alone for the entire day, and threw on a long cream dress that I could have sworn was the one she had been wearing on the first day I met her. "I'll be back in a moment" she whispered and kissed me once before slipping on a pair of heeled boots and sliding out of the room. I waited for a moment but, unlike the last time this had happened, I could not suppress my urge to follow her and protect her, whatever the cost.

I found the clothes that had been taken and washed earlier in the day folded neatly on the pink armchair by the window and dressed as quickly as I could (minus the shoes, I didn't want Lucius to hear me coming.) Once dressed I tiptoed quickly towards the door and slid out into the hall; within moments I was crouched at the top of the staircase, hidden behind a pillar, watching as Narcissa dismounted the stairs, glancing at her son who was sat on the bottom step with his head in his hands, and tottered over to her husband who seemed to have turned to stone in the centre of the entrance hall.

"You called?" Her cold facade was back up, I'd almost forgotten how unfeeling she could be when she wanted to; perhaps we'd been spending a little too much time separated from the outside world recently. She had her arms folded across her chest and was stood directly in front of Lucius, her eyes fixed on his as though challenging him to anger her.

"I want to know... what you have spent your day doing" he answered plainly, his eyes a little misty but still focused directly on Narcissa's.

"Why on earth would you want to know that? You've never taken an interest in any of my daily routines in all of the years we've been married."

"Well maybe we should change that. Tell me." His hands clenched into fists and for a moment I was tempted to leap from my hiding place and hex the bastard for even threatening to harm her, but I kept calm, I knew it would not end well if I were to move now.

"Lucius, you're drunk," she hissed "and I'm not discussing anything with you until you've sobered up. Now, I'm going to take Draco up to bed since this" she indicated to her son who had removed his head from his hands and was now slumped up against the wall, "is clearly your doing and I will not have him do any more damage to himself than your level of alcohol consumption has already done to him." She turned on her heel and went to walk towards Draco but Lucius stopped her, grabbing hold of her wrist and jerking her back towards him. I could feel the heat rising in my face, anger boiling in my very core, how dare he treat her like that! Not even a marriage certificate could give him the right to be so forceful, not in this day and age.

"Don't you ever speak to me like that again." His voice was low, dangerous, I half expected him to throw her to the ground but somehow I wanted to believe that he wouldn't.

"I will speak to you as I wish Lucius. Now remove your hand or it won't exist for much longer. " His eyes bulged in their sockets and I saw Narcissa take a step back, biting her lip a little. Then something happened, something I hadn't expected to happen at all. Lucius lifted his hand into the air poised to slap his wife with such force that I feared he could do some serious damage; I was about to run to her rescue when the crack of skin on skin echoed through the hall followed by a sickening bang as a body hit the floor - but it wasn't Narcissa who lay there. Draco was curled on the dark marble floor, clutching his cheek but seemingly unfazed by the blow he had taken for his mother (presumably an effect of the alcohol).

Lucius' rage had grown to critical levels and he thrust his arm towards Draco, grasping the neck of his clothing and lifting him off of the ground so that their faces almost touched: "Stupid, stupid boy." he growled but before he could do any more Narcissa's wand was pointed at his throat. He turned to face her slowly, still holding Draco in mid air between them.

"Put him down." she hissed, no sign of fear, not even a hint of apprehension. Her jaw was set firmly, her lips pressed tightly together and her eyes never moving from Lucius'. Nothing happened, Lucius didn't move. "I said, put him down, Lucius." Slowly he lowered his son to the floor and released the neck of his robes. Draco wobbled unsteadily but managed to balance enough to make his way back to the stairs before collapsing once more against the wall, a red mark on his right cheek from his father's blow. I may not have liked the boy much, but I had to feel sorry for him in the state he was in. I considered sliding down the stairs and helping him up to his room but, realising that I would be in full view of Lucius if I did so, I held back.

Narcissa and Lucius had not moved, both stood as though they had been frozen, with Narcissa's wand jabbing into the skin of her husband's throat. I thought I saw tears in her eyes, but I couldn't be sure being as far away as I was. I wished I could help, but that wasn't possible if I wanted to continue living.

"What are you going to do Narcissa, kill me? We both know you don't have it in you. You never were a true Slytherin, chasing Gryffindor scum and treating everyone you know with love and kindness," he spat on the floor "more like a Hufflepuff in my books."

She pressed her wand harder against his throat, so hard that it was certain to leave an indentation in his skin. "Don't test me Lucius; you may like to think that being a sly and cunning Slytherin is the only important thing in life but all you are is snivelling coward who would gladly put his own family in danger to save his own skin – or are you forgetting what killed your father?" The colour in Lucius' face drained to a ghostly white, he clenched his teeth together and attempted to snarl but he was clearly terrified. " I wish I had let the sorting hat put me where I belonged when I was eleven; at least then my family would have disowned me and I would never have had to marry you." She removed her wand from his neck, span around and strode over to Draco, bending to help him up. She didn't see Lucius pull out his wand. She didn't see his lips reading a curse he knew well. All she saw was me, standing on the top step, pointing my wand directly at her husband's head.

"Stupify."


	9. After The Storm

**Note: **New chapter and I thoroughly enjoyed writing this one (when I finally got the time to do so). I've noticed that for the last few chapters I have had absolutely no reviews and it's worrying me a little... is it that you don't like what I've been writing or that you just have nothing to say? Normally I wouldn't mind so much but I write my fictions for your enjoyment as much as my own and I do worry when I don't hear from anyone at all... I would be really grateful to hear something from you my darling readers, even if it is only a few words to let me know what you think.

Love always

Shadow of a Black Rose xxx

**Warning: **Some strong language and a rather sexual scene to end - You know the drill: if you don't like it don't read it!

~.~.~.~.~.~

I was frozen to the spot, my wand still held out before me, my eyes wide with the shock of what had just happened. He had tried to kill her, he had actually tried to kill her. The coward, he wasn't even brave enough to say the spell out loud; but I saw his lips move, I saw those two words forming, the one spell that was unforgivable above all others. He had been angry, that was plain for anyone to see, but I never thought he would actually try to kill his own wife. My heart was pounding fast and hard, it was the only thing I could hear aside from my own slow, unsteady breathing.

What spell had I used? I remembered lifting my wand and pointing it at Lucius' head. I remember him finishing the first word of the spell. I remember Narcissa looking up at me, her big blue eyes suddenly filling with terror that Lucius would try to kill me. I even remember the look on Draco's face when he realised what I was doing, the first time he ever looked at me with what could almost be labelled as respect and understanding. But I don't remember the spell that issued from my lips as I sliced my wand through the air, cutting Lucius off before he could finish the spell that would take my Cissa away from me forever.

After that everything seemed to slow down, as if someone had pressed a button that made the world move in slow motion. Narcissa turned to face her husband, the clip slipping from her hair allowing golden tresses to fly around her shoulders like some enchanted cloak protecting her from the fate Lucius had almost inflicted on her. Lucius was rigid; he toppled backwards and bounced on the ground once at the first impact. Then everything went silent.

"Ginny?" Her voice shook slightly as she spoke. I didn't answer. I couldn't answer. My mind was still racing back and forth like a toddler who had been allowed too much sugar. Narcissa gripped the banister and took an unsteady step up towards me, she looked back over her shoulder at Lucius but there was no emotion in her eyes, he could have been a rotting old log in the middle of the forbidden forest and she still would have looked at him with the total indifference that reflected in her eyes during that single glance. "Ginny?" she whispered again, taking a few more steps towards me. It was then that I broke, the soft worry in her voice melting me to the floor as tears streamed from my eyes. The tears weren't for him, they were for her. I had almost lost her. For a second I had thought I was going to lose her. In a crumpled heap on the top step I wrapped my arms around my legs and pulled them up to my chest, burying my face in my knees as the tears continued to flow freely from my eyes. Narcissa must have taken the remaining steps two at a time because within seconds she was by my side, her arms wrapping around me as she placed gentle kisses on my head and the back of my neck.

"I'm sorry," I whispered, almost incoherently through the sobs that still fought to escape my throat, "I'm so, so sorry."

"What for?" She murmured, still nuzzling at my neck and kissing me.

"I… I didn't mean to do anything. I just didn't trust him. I… I had to make sure you were… you were…" My voice evaporated and I hugged my legs tighter to my body, terrified that I may have just made myself a murderer.

"Darling what were you doing? He wouldn't have done anything. He was..."

"Mother, you should be thanking her, not questioning her." Draco was stood a few steps away from us, seemingly having been brought out of his drunken stupor by the shock of the events that had just unfurled before his eyes. Narcissa looked puzzled; she was the only one who had missed the spell that her husband had been preparing to cast. "She saved your life," Draco muttered, "Father was about to... he was about to..." His words trailed off as he sank back to the ground and scrunched his eyes closed, not wanting to imagine what could have happened. Narcissa gasped, her right hand pressing to her lips as she realised what her husband had intended to do.

"Ginny?"

"I had to stop him." I murmured, my voice trembling but the tears beginning to subside, "He would have killed you. He would have taken you from me. I couldn't let him. I couldn't let him take you." I looked up into her eyes, the last tears seeping from the corners of my own. "Did I kill him?"

"No darling, you didn't kill him." Now her eyes were filling with tears and she flung her arms around my neck, her lips crashing down on mine, kissing me again and again, her hands tangling in my fire red hair, the ice of her eyes hidden by the soft snowy flesh of her eyelids. "You saved me" she whispered between kisses as tears began to roll down her cheeks, each one subsiding as they reached our connecting mouths. I wrapped my own arms around her waist, softly stroking her hipbones with the tips of my fingers. She was safe. She was alive. She was there in my arms. Something between a sigh of relief and a lustful moan slipped between my lips and I finally began to relax once more.

~.~.~.~.~.~

It was late that night when I finally got home and, as I had expected, my mother was sitting bolt upright in one of the rickety wooden chairs as I entered the kitchen. I must have looked as tired as I felt because as soon as I met my mother's eye she had darted from her seat and was immediately helping me into it, as though I were an invalid who could not walk two steps without the support of another. She didn't say anything for a long while as she bustled around the kitchen piling what was left of that night's dinner onto a plate and placing it in front of me before sitting herself down in the chair opposite mine. Still she said nothing. Her eyes were fixed on the plate of food expectantly. I wasn't hungry; my stomach was too churned up from the chaotic day that I was still attempting to recover from. Nevertheless I picked up my fork and poked at the food, attempting to find a way to make it look like I had eaten without having to stomach too much of the stodgy meal before me.

"Were you with Mrs Malfoy all day?" she asked once she had seen me take a few bites of food.

"Yes."

"What were you doing?"

"What do you think we were doing mum?" I honestly didn't mean to sound as rude as I did, but the fact of the matter was that I had had a long day and the last thing I wanted was to be questioned as though I were on trial at the Ministry for using the exact spell I had stopped Lucius Malfoy from using only an hour or so before. My mother was frowning, she'd been doing that a little too much for my liking lately. I missed the cheerful woman I had known before the war and Fred's death.

"Don't speak to me like that Genevra," she snapped, "I'm only taking an interest in your life. Besides, you can hardly have got this tired from simply taking magic lessons from a woman who looks like she spends all day every day lying around a mansion with house elves attending to her every need."

"We were practicing duelling." I hated lying to my mother. As annoying and over protective as she could be I knew she only did it because she loved me. This time, however, I didn't feel nearly as guilty as I normally would - I was lying for Narcissa, I was lying for our relationship, and that was far more important to me than anything my mother had or could ever have done for me. Mum didn't seem convinced though; she continued to frown and her forehead crinkled, her lips thin and white as she visibly tried to believe what I was telling her.

"If that woman has hurt you Ginny, I swear by Merlin I'll..."

"Enough mum! I know you don't trust Narcissa, alright, but that doesn't mean I have to listen to you badmouthing her all the time. She would never hurt me. She's helping me. Can't you understand that she and I are trying to build a bridge between our families? Can't you see that we're trying to make things better?"

"Oh, so it's 'Narcissa' now is it?" She had straightened in her seat and was staring me square in the face. I knew I had slipped up but I tried not to show it, shrugging in a way that neither confirmed nor denied any notion that my mother could possibly conjure up in that slightly insane head of hers.

"I guess I'm just used to her now." It was more than simply an understatement but it seemed to keep mum happy. "I'm tired, can I please go up to bed." I didn't mean it as a question but I knew she would protest anyway - I had barely touched my food. She parted her lips to say something but I was through discussing matters with her (my day had been tough enough without having to face an inquisition) so I jumped up from the table and practically leapt to the stairs, taking them three at a time until I could finally shut myself away in my room and get the rest I so desperately needed.

~.~.~.~.~.~

"So, what do you want to do about all of this?" Narcissa, Draco and I stood over Lucius Malfoy's motionless form that lay on a bed in a room which I could only assume belonged to the man himself. Everything about it was large, dark and overly extravagant, however it wasn't quite as daunting as I had imagined (mainly due to the state the pig of a man had left it in, with clothing strewn across the floor and a stink of alcohol and BO in the air). It was the morning after what I was beginning to consider the craziest day of my life and Draco had been asking the same question every ten minutes for the past hour. Narcissa and I were both still totally oblivious as to how we could give him an answer - really, neither of us knew what we could do. We could have woken Lucius but that, no doubt would have resulted in all of our deaths. We could have turned him over to the Ministry but what would we tell them he had done? They already knew he had been a Death Eater but somehow Narcissa had saved him from the fate that that particular crime had held for most and if we told them the truth (that he had attempted to murder his wife) there would have been all kinds of questions asked, ultimately resulting in the outing of our relationship (not to mention our sexualities). Draco had even suggested the one option Narcissa and I had been attempting to avoid – murder. Somehow we didn't even have to explain why that was a bad idea, it was clear to us all that killing Lucius would make us as cowardly as he was.

"We'll keep him here," Narcissa muttered, her right hand gently caressing my lower back. "I see no other reasonable option." She wasn't looking at him, none of us were. If we hadn't been talking about Lucius it would have been easy to imagine he wasn't even in the room.

"Are you suggesting that I play a part in the imprisonment of my own father?" Draco asked indignantly. Hadn't he been the one suggesting murder just moments before? I knew Draco could be an idiot sometimes but this was something else.

"Well what else do you suppose we do Draco?" I snapped, I still hadn't fully recovered from the shock of my actions and, as much as Narcissa denied it, the fact that all of this chaos was entirely my fault. I couldn't help but feel that the Malfoy family would have been better off without my interference but I knew that it was better this way - at least Narcissa was happier now. "Besides," I muttered, trying not to lose my temper "what has he ever done for you but get you involved in situations that have only ruined your life. You don't owe him anything." He glared at me. Maybe I had taken it too far, after all Lucius was his father.

"She's right Draco, he's never done a good thing for us in his life - well, apart from giving me you." Removing her arm from around my waist Narcissa went over to her son and wrapped her arms around his neck. It brought out a side of Draco that I had never seen before; as Narcissa embraced him he seemed to collapse into her, his eyes screwed shut and his hands grasping at her back as though he feared she would slip away at any moment. "My poor baby," she whispered "everything will be okay, I promise."

I turned my eyes to the floor, it didn't seem right for me to watch such a tender moment. That moment between mother and son was something that should have remained sacred and private – it felt wrong for me to even be in the room.

"Mother," I heard Draco say, although I tried my best to shut him out, "I'm sorry I've been such a nuisance recently. I didn't know how to handle the changes after the war. I didn't know how to handle the changes in you…"

"I understand darling."

"I'm sorry I've been such a terrible son. I'm sorry I tried to keep you away from her. I know you love her. I've always known. I knew before you did. But I don't have a problem with it anymore – I want you to be with her. She makes you happy and that's all that matters. I just want you to be happy."

~.~.~.~.~.~

It was dark when Lucius Malfoy opened his eyes, so dark that he half believed he had been killed. While others often imagined hell to be filled with fire and pain Lucius had always believed that hell was simply nothingness, a place void of time and light where one was made to spend eternity thinking of the wrong they had done in their lives and forced into believing the worst of themselves. He had always thought it would be the place that would tear the tattered remains of his soul apart and force him to repent for every bad thing he had ever done.

He tried to lift his hand in an attempt to see if he could distinguish it from the darkness before him; a clattering noise echoed through the air and his arm was forced back down to the ground. It was then that he felt the metal rings around his wrists, rubbing the skin until it was red raw. He was chained to a wall, he could feel the jagged stone piercing his back. Was he in Azkaban? No, even that pit of death had a little light – besides, it lacked the chill that emanated from the dementors of Azkaban. So where was he?

A cough echoed around the room from Lucius' right side and he immediately attempted to grab for his wand only to find that the holster around his wrist had been removed and his cane was nowhere to be found. In his confusion he began to slide away but found himself pulled back by the chain holding his arm.

"You forced me to this." It was a woman's voice, cold and sharp with a slightly snake-like hiss in it. He thought he recognised it. It almost sounded like… No. It couldn't be. She was gone, dead and buried at the bottom of the garden under Narcissa's favourite tree – the one that she and her sister had sat under on the morning of the youngest sister's wedding. Bellatrix had never approved of him. Even so, there was no way that she could be here now. She was dead, he knew that. Unless he really was dead…

"Bellatrix?" His voice shook with fear, a sob caught in the back of his throat, refusing to be dislodged in case it really was his sister-in-law who had imprisoned him here in this place of nothingness. It would be just like her to be the only person who could keep a prisoner where there was nothing to imprison someone with. He knew he was being ridiculous – if he was dead then there would be nothing and no one there, but if he was alive then why did it seem as though Bellatrix Lestrange was stood by his side tormenting him at that very moment? Everything had gone silent but Lucius' invisible tormenter was shifting around, he could just hear the click of heels on stone. Bellatrix had never worn heels. It was then that it dawned on him who his captor must be. He clenched his teeth together and balled his hands into fists as though he was preparing to attempt ripping his restraints from the stone wall behind him. "Narcissa."

"You thought I was Bellatrix? Lucius if my dear sister, god rest her soul, had been given the opportunity to deal with you for the way you have treated me you know full well she would not waste the time on chaining you up."

"Don't kid yourself Narcissa, you know as well as I do that she left me be because she was as disgusted by you as your own mother was when she found that you had a taste for mudblood scum." Any sign of fear had been wiped from his voice, replaced with a sly smugness that only a Malfoy could execute so well.

"Don't you ever say that," she hissed, "Bella loved me. She was the only one who didn't give up on me."

"Oh, she loved you alright dear – a little too much if you ask me."

"Take that back!" Lucius didn't see it coming but within seconds the back of Narcissa's hand connected with his cheek, the force of the blow so powerful that he felt a tooth dislodge in his mouth. He spat it out and heard a soft click as it hit the stone floor. Silence ensued. Lucius was almost unsure whether his wife was still there or not. It made him uncomfortable that he couldn't see her - perhaps he should have installed some form of lighting into the manor dungeons; of course, it was too late for that now. "Take it back." Narcissa hissed again, venom practically dripping from her voice. He wasn't afraid - cautious was a more accurate evaluation of how he felt. Lucius knew his wife - despite never loving her he had grown to understand her from the years they had shared living under the same roof. He knew that if he pushed her too far there would be no going back. In some ways Narcissa was more insane than her eldest sister ever had been.

"You know it's true" he replied, "don't kid yourself Narcissa, you know as well as I do Bellatrix was jealous of Lily - Merlin, she'd be jealous of your little Weasley girl if she were still alive. You know I'm right; or have you forgotten already - Bellatrix doesn't share."

"I knew you were scum Lucius, but to make such insinuations about your own wife's sister? Now, that really is low."

"Oh, cry me a river princess." Was that pushing it? He wasn't sure how much longer she would put up with this fight before she snapped but he couldn't stop himself from pushing her further and further towards breaking point - it wasn't in his nature to give up so easily.

Despite the lack of light he knew she was staring at him, cat-like, ice cold eyes bearing into his soul with a burning urge to rip him to shreds. She was panting with anger, the hiss of her breath issuing thick and fast into the already moist air. No further. He couldn't push her any further or he wouldn't live to tell the tale. Narcissa's breaths continued to slither through the silence - memories of the Dark Lord's hideous snake coiling into Lucius' mind at the sound of them. He flinched slightly, only keeping composure in the knowledge that both the snake and its master were dead and gone.

A creak echoed around the cold room as the door on the far wall opened and light flooded into the room, silhouetting Narcissa in its fire like glow - Merlin she was daunting in that light. Another figure appeared by the light of the door and slowly made its way over to Narcissa. Another woman, only this one wore muggle clothes. The Weasley girl. She stood behind his wife, her arms curling around the older woman's waist. Narcissa visibly relaxed into the embrace. Lucius turned away; he may not have cared for Narcissa but she still belonged to him and he had the marriage certificate as proof. It sickened him to see how Narcissa let herself be dirtied by one such as that girl - the blood traitor - the filth.

"Oh honestly Lucius," the blonde woman laughed, far more relaxed than she had been moments before "don't pretend that you actually care."

"You made a mockery of the Black family name and now you are doing the same to the name of Malfoy." he spat at her but the distance made the women an unreachable target. "At least have the decency not to make me a witness as you destroy the good name that generations of my family have worked to create." She laughed again. Cold. Unfeeling. Narcissa really could be a bitch when she wanted to be.

"I don't think the word 'good' has ever been associated with 'Malfoy' Lucius, do you?" She coiled her arm around the red-head's neck and leant her head towards the young girl, locking their lips together. Fiercely. Passionately. The woman of ice had finally been melted - Lucius barely believed it possible. "Besides," she muttered, pulling away from the young girl who proceeded to kiss down the side of his wife's neck with a tenderness he could never have mustered, even in his younger years when he had played the part of the loving, nurturing husband for his parent's sake. "I have no intention of going by your revolting family name for much longer. You see, Lucius, the longer you are invisible from the outside world, the more likely it is that people will believe the story I plan to tell them."

"And what story would that be, Narcissa?"

"That you left; that you ran away because you couldn't stand to see your beliefs ripped apart by the loss of your Lord, your friends, everyone who you had once considered to be more powerful than any muggle born or muggle-lover. It will free me from this life you have trapped me in. The Ministry know where my elegances lie; I'm the one who saved Mr Potter's life - they won't forget that in a hurry. They will free me from this farce of a marriage and allow myself and Draco back into society." Her eyes closed and she took a deep breath as the girl cupped her breasts, kneading them gently in delicate, pale hands. Narcissa's head rolled onto the girl's shoulder and for a moment only her laboured breathing could be heard.

"What makes you think Draco will be pardoned?" Lucius choked out - desperate to break through the sounds of his wife's ecstasy. "He did nothing to support their cause. He fought on my side, the Dark Lord's side."

"He is a child, Lucius. A young, impressionable child who sought only to win the approval of his father. Of course, we both know he never stood a chance of winning your approval." Her eyes were locked on his once more, ice cold. The girl had stopped her groping, simply holding Narcissa tightly in her arms, protectively squeezing their bodies together. "They won't punish Draco for following his natural instincts - especially now that he sees how wrong he was. Especially now that he sees how wrong you were."

"You've really thought this through haven't you."

"Yes."

"And what happens to me once you have been re-inducted into society?" Narcissa didn't answer. She turned to the girl and whispered something in her ear, although what she whispered Lucius couldn't decipher. He knew the answer anyway. They wouldn't free him - that would be too much of a risk when he could easily kill them both. They couldn't hand him over to the Ministry without revealing their whole story as a fabrication. That left one option. They would kill him.

When Lucius looked back the girl had gone and Narcissa stood alone before him. She had never looked more exquisite - or maybe he had simply been too busy to notice before that moment. She wore an ivy coloured dress of silk that gave her body an elegant line while highlighting her best assets. Her skin was pale and shone in the light that still seeped in from the hall outside. Her eyes seemed brighter than he remembered, a more crystal clear blue. They were happy eyes. Her lips were plumper than before, her nose more perfect, her golden hair like the setting of a summer sun, glistening, flowing like the sea beneath that golden light. Her hands were held up before her, dainty, delicate, with long slim fingers and perfect, pale, manicured nails; they held something - his wand was grasped in those perfect fingers.

"You can go free once everything is over." Her voice was low, soft, almost inaudible. "Don't go tricking yourself into believing you will win though." A crack echoed around the room and the two halves of my wand dropped to the floor with a light thud. To Lucius it almost felt as though a part of his soul had been ripped from him. He had had that wand since he turned eleven and bought it in Diagon Alley - now it was gone. He tried to restrain the look of horror trying to grip his features, feigning a cool exterior as he stared at the broken wand.

"I can buy a new one."

"What? With that tattoo on your arm? I sincerely doubt any wand maker would consider selling you something that could cause so much damage with proof of your past."

"How would they know if it was covered?"

"They're checking now, it's a new law. Any wizard or witch trying to obtain a new wand must first prove that they have no history of using magic distastefully." Lucius could no longer control his features and his face distorted to a mask of fury. He tried to launch himself towards his wife but the chains pulled him back, the force of the action throwing his body against the stone wall with a sickening crack. Narcissa shook her head slowly; she almost looked sad for him but the hatred in her eyes betrayed her true feelings. "When this is all over Lucius I want you to get as far away from me and the people I love as you can."

"And if I don't?"

Narcissa turned her back and walked towards the door, stopping with her hand on the doorframe. "If you don't," she murmured, not turning back to face him, "I will kill you. I don't want to, but I will." With that she slid from the room, locking the door behind her, bolting it shut. He would do as he was instructed - she knew the coward wouldn't risk his own life to try and take hers.

~.~.~.~.~.~

Narcissa was grinning when she returned from the dungeons later that evening; she looked more relaxed than I had ever seen before and, upon entering the study, (where I was finishing up some transfiguration practice - apparently fucking the teacher doesn't excuse you from homework) she threw herself into my lap with such force that I felt the chair I was sitting in wobble, threatening to give way beneath us both. Her arms coiled around my neck and she immediately pressed her lips to mine in a gentle, loving kiss.

"It's done," she whispered softly between kisses, "there's nothing he can do now Ginny. It won't be long now and I will be 'Narcissa Black' again. I'll be free, free to be myself, free to do what I want - free to be with you." she kissed me again but the gentle kisses of before had gone. This kiss wasn't just love, it was passion, it was desire, it was the battle of fire and ice, the battle we fought every day to consume one another, the battle to become a part of one another, the battle to become one.

Our mouths opened and her tongue caressed mine; she tasted heavenly, sweet. I could feel her hands tangled in my hair, her perfect nails clawing gently at my scalp, a feeling between pleasure and pain as the slight points pressed against my skin. Perfection. She removed herself from my lap and I stood to follow, refusing to part my lips from hers. Her arm circled my waist and she pulled me towards her, slowly backing up until her arse was pressed against the desk I had been working at. A flick of her wrist and my books and papers had been catapulted onto the floor. Under normal circumstances I would have panicked about the state of my revision notes but at that point I didn't care - I wanted her and that was all I cared about. She lifted her body slightly and slid backwards onto the desk, wrapping her legs around my waist and pulling me closer. Even through both of our clothing I could practically feel the heat from her core - it me insane just thinking about it. I broke the kiss and she moaned in protest until she saw me sink down onto my knees. I bunched the long skirt of her dress around her hips and kissed the top of her inner thighs, so close but not as close as she wanted it. I worked my way down each leg, kissing from her inner thighs to her feet and removing each boot and stocking in the process. The whole time she was mewling, begging to be touched, begging for release. I would give it to her, of course I would, but first I wanted to adore her. I wanted to shower every inch of her body with kisses in gratitude for the honour of being able to call her mine. I slid back up her body, standing to kiss her lips once more, deep, meaningful, pulling her closer so I could feel her chest heaving against mine. Her strong thighs gripped my hips and I stroked one gently with the tips of my fingers.

"Ginny" she whispered, her voice deep with lust; it felt like she wanted to say more but I didn't want to hear anything else, I kissed her again before moving my attention to her delicate, swan-like neck, planting kisses on every inch of pale skin and only re-surfacing to nibble gently on her earlobes. I carried on moving down her body, kissing her collarbones, shoulders and the top of her chest. I located the clasps at the back of her dress and undid each one with a skill that only a woman could posses (_I'd like to see Lucius try and do that_ I thought to myself). Further down I went, lavishing each breast with my full attention, capturing each nipple in my mouth and sucking gently, swirling my tongue around and pulling short, sharp gasps from Narcissa's pale lips. She could no longer even form words, she tried a few times but each time only a moan broke free. I kissed down to her stomach as one of her hands tangled in my hair once more and I slid her dress further down her body.

"Stand up" I murmured and, as she did, I edged her dress down her body, then allowed it to drop to the floor. I lifted her back onto the desk while she kissed my neck, sucking on my pulse point so hard that I almost lost control of my limbs and dropped her back onto the desk. "Merlin" it was all I could do not to scream her name, not yet, that could wait until later. I knelt before her again so my face was at the same level as her crotch. I pulled her towards the edge of the desk and leant forward so she could feel my breath hot through her lace white panties. I heard the breath catch in her throat and she gripped tightly at my hair, so tightly that she almost ripped a chunk out. I smirked - lord, I never smirked that was what Narcissa did. _You're already like a married couple then_ I thought to myself _now you're even acting like her_. I slid her panties aside and kissed her clit before gently enveloping it in my mouth and sucking on it. Narcissa's body convulsed, as though an electric current had been sent straight through her and she almost growled as her head dropped back and she had to steady herself, placing her hands firmly each side of her for support. She opened her legs wider and pushed my head closer to her core

"More... please Ginny... more." She didn't have to ask me twice. Within seconds I was licking at her ferociously, licking and sucking, occasionally moaning to send vibrations through her body so that she was practically hysterical with pleasure. Her hand was still knotted in my hair but I no longer felt the pain as she tugged and pulled at it, begging for more but trying to hold off her release - she wouldn't give in that easily. My scalp had gone totally numb, it was strange actually to have no sensation in a single part of your body. Narcissa moaned again and I felt a tingle go down my spine. I wanted her to scream my name. I wanted her to scream so loud that her husband would hear her from the dungeons. Then he would see what he could never do. He would see that he was never worthy of calling himself her husband. He would see that, despite his pathetic little marriage certificate, she was and would never be his - she was mine and I wanted him to know that. I thrust two fingers inside her and I felt her smooth velvet walls clench slightly - still she wouldn't give in. Honestly, I hadn't expected her to. I pumped my fingers inside her, slowly at first then faster and faster and faster still until I knew she was barely holding on. I looked up at her. She still had a vice-like grip on my hair and her head was thrown back, long golden locks hanging behind her and swaying gently as the movements of my hand gently rocked her body back and forth. She bit her bottom lip and her eyes were tightly shut, with short sharp breaths desperately trying to break free from her lips.

I stood up, still pumping my fingers inside her. "Scream my name darling," I whispered in her ear "scream my name so he can hear you. Scream my name so the world can hear you." That must have been all she could take because seconds later her walls clamped down around my fingers and her pretty lips parted, shrieking for the world to hear her.

"Oh Ginny... yes... oh sweet Salazar... mmm... oh Ginny..." on and on she screamed - there was no way Lucius could miss those sounds. I carried on pumping my fingers into her, carrying her through five orgasms before I slowed my pace and finally pulled out of her. She lay totally still for a long time, her legs dangling over the edge of the table, her eyes closed although not as tightly as they had been. I sat in the chair we had discarded earlier on. It was closer to the desk than I remembered, although my mind had been a little preoccupied to notice the proxemics of furniture.

When Narcissa's head finally rolled to face me I was cleaning my fingers, licking off every last drop of Narcissa's sweetness. For a moment she just watched, her eyes fixed on my mouth as I licked my fingers.

"Enjoying the show?" She smirked but didn't answer. She didn't need to, the look on her face said it all. She sat up and removed herself to the desk, gliding over to me without the slightest thought of re-clothing herself.

"Your turn..."


	10. Secrets and Memories

**Note: **Hello my darlings, well once again it has taken me a very long time to update (I'm so sorry) but the important thing is that I am not giving up on this story! So there is a little less time spent on Narcissa and Ginny as a couple in this one mostly because I think it is important that we look into the other relationships in their lives with family and all of that so that, especially when it gets to the Weasley family finding out about the relationship, we can see the full affect the love affair has on things and how this in turn impacts Narcissa. Also, unfortunately, I've had to make this quite short as I've not had an awful lot of time with exams coming up – but I wanted to give you something since it's been a while. Hopefully you won't hate me too much for the diversion and I promise I will go back to the romance bits soon. As always I would love to hear what you all think about this chapter and the story as a whole so far, so pretty pretty please review and I will give you all cookies! (Virtual cookies of course, I think it would take a long time for me to track you all down and give you actual cookies).

Love always

Shadow of a Black Rose xxx

**Warning: **Violence and implied rape are the predominant things to point out in this one, I wouldn't normally involve any sort of rape but I just felt it was needed for us to understand certain relationships and bonds – don't worry though, I didn't go into too much detail (I considered it but it just disgusted me too much.)

~.~.~.~.~.~

Early the next morning I found myself sneaking out of the fireplace at my home, trying to make it to my room before my mum could catch me and start her usual imitation of the Spanish inquisition. I managed to make it from the fireplace to the bottom of the stairs without being noticed but as I lowered my foot on the first step I heard a cough behind me and the sound of a foot tapping on the floor. I stopped and tensed, preparing myself for the rush of questions, but as I turned around it wasn't my mother who I found stood there. George was stood directly behind me with his arms crossed and his weight distributed to one side so that he could tap his foot on the wooden floor in a disapproving manner. He was grinning and I knew I was in for it; George had decided since the war that without Fred he would have to work twice as hard to fill the gap our brother had left behind - the prospect of which did not seem pleasant for the rest of our family.

"Ginevra Weasley, where on earth have you been all night?" Damn him - he was enjoying this weird form of torture far too much. His grin had almost turned into a smirk and he was clearly trying his best to be as loud as possible so the whole family would hear my torment.

"George, will you please shut up... if mum hears you..."

"Calm down little sister, mum and dad went out hours ago." Urgh, it was just like him to make a whole song and dance just to worry me when he knew full well that I had nothing to worry about whatsoever. I was so going to get him back for this... eventually. "Seriously though Gin, where have you been? I didn't hear you come home at all last night and those are the clothes you wore yesterday meaning..."

"Meaning I spent the night out, alright? Are you happy now? I admit it; I didn't come home last night. It's not exactly a crime George, and I'm old enough to look after myself."

"Woah, alright, I was only asking." he held his hands up defensively. I probably had been a little snappy but I was tired, I mean, I hadn't got an awful lot of sleep the night before. "Who is he then?" George asked, the smirk returning to his face, "Is it anyone I know?"

"W...what?"

"Well you can't try and tell me you were at a friend's house Gin, you haven't had a girly sleepover since you were about ten. So, who is he? Come on, you can tell your big bro!" He threw his arm around my shoulders in his typical 'proud big brother' act and grinned down at me expectantly. Part of me wanted to tell him. Part of me wanted to tell him everything about me, about Narcissa, about everything that had been going on since I started taking lessons from the Malfoy matriarch.

"George, let it drop..."

"So there is a guy!"

"There is no guy. There is never a guy George. I was just out, okay. It wasn't like the whole girly sleepover thing either. I was working at Malfoy Manor and I fell asleep; I asked Mrs Malfoy why she didn't wake me and she just said I clearly needed the rest. That's it. Okay?" He smirked. For a moment I was sure he knew, there was something in his eyes that seemed to scream 'I know all of your secrets Ginny' but he didn't. That was just George, that look, he liked making people uncomfortable with it and he had it down to a fine art.

"There will be a guy one day," he grinned "and when that day comes I'll kill him if he ever hurts my little sister!" I had to smile at that - even though he was way off the mark it was nice to know he cared so much. George didn't show it very often but he had a soft side that was reserved just for me and mum, I knew he would always protect us.

"You're not going to tell mum about this are you?"

"Nah, I mean it would be fun and all but really I think she's worrying about you enough without my input. Don't worry though Gin, she'll get over it - she's just not ready to let us all go just yet." He smiled sadly - I knew he was thinking about Fred. It had been hard on all of us when he died but I couldn't imagine what it had been like for George, they were twins - it was still wrong seeing George without Fred by his side. "Go on then," he said, cutting the silence that had fallen between us "off to bed with you - you look like you could do with a proper rest." He was right. I smiled briefly then ran up the stairs to my room for a well deserved nap.

~.~.~.~.~.~

Narcissa was lying out in the sun on an elaborately carved wooden lounger with an ice cold glass of water by her side and an Italian fan gripped loosely in her hand as she attempted to cool herself down. It amazed her that the weather could change so dramatically in such a short space of time; only a week before she had sent her son out in the freezing cold and pouring rain to keep her husband out of the house and now it was sweltering hot, her son had finally got himself a job to be proud of and her soon-to-be-ex-husband was still locked up in the dungeons probably still freezing despite the weather that the surface world was experiencing. She sighed happily and took a sip of water closing her eyes and smiling - everything finally seemed to be going her way.

She wondered what Ginny was doing at that moment, she knew that her young lover had said she had to do 'family stuff' but really what did that mean? Was she enjoying herself? Probably not - at least, not as much as she would be if she was here with Narcissa. The blonde witch couldn't help but wonder if Ginny was missing her as much as she missed Ginny. _Merlin_ she thought to herself _what's happening to me? It's like I can do nothing but think of her_. The fact of the matter was that Narcissa couldn't think of anything but Ginny, she was all she thought about from the moment she woke up to the point when her head rested on her pillow and she drifted off into the world of dreams, filled with fire red hair and those lips on her skin. _Merlin, I'm like some love-sick schoolgirl_.

A cough resounded from somewhere above her and Narcissa opened her eyes to find the tall, blonde figure of her son stood over her, blocking the sun and hiding her in the shadows. "Hello darling" she murmured, closing her eyes once more, "lovely day, don't you think?" He didn't reply – typical Draco, he couldn't handle small talk. "Fine," she sighed, sitting up and looking up at him "I didn't think you had come just to chat. What is it that you want?" The relaxed Narcissa of before vanished in an instant, replaced by the unfeeling woman the world knew her to be. Draco was scowling, it was as though he had eaten something that tasted vile and couldn't quite rid his mouth of the revolting flavour.

"Father."

"What about him?"

"I'm not comfortable with this plan of yours mother. I don't trust him. He'll find a way to get another wand, and you know that won't be good for any of us." His eyes seemed wider than normal, his nostrils flaring as short, sharp breaths escaped his airway. He knelt down by the sunbed and rested his head on his mother's thighs, "I can't let him hurt you again." Narcissa sighed and ran her fingers gently through Draco's hair. He always had been such a good boy. He was the only good thing Lucius had ever given her, this sweet little boy who would protect her always. Sitting like that with Draco reminded Narcissa of darker times when Lucius had lorded it over her, treating her as no more than a slave and beating her if she fought back. Draco had been her refuge in those times. There was one particular incident that Narcissa could not quite forget, although the horror of it almost tore her apart inside when the memory was pulled from the deepest recesses of her mind to the forefront where she could not ignore it. Draco had only been seven at the time, still a baby in Narcissa's eyes, but still he had known how to comfort her.

_It was just another day to anybody else, but to Narcissa it was something so much more. On this day, just six years ago, the only woman she had ever loved had been viciously removed from the world of the living, taken from Narcissa before she had even had a chance to confess her feelings. Not true, of course, she had had more than enough chance to tell Lily Evans how she felt. Narcissa was a coward. She told herself the same thing every year when this day came around. Why hadn't she told Lily? They had been in school together for so many years, she could have confessed it at any given time. Again, not true. She would have been disowned on the spot if the news that Narcissa Black was in love with a mudblood had reached her mother. Druella was old fashioned; there was no way in hell she would ever have accepted Narcissa's love for Lily. _

_The blonde witch was still curled up in bed, despite the cold winter sun shining through the French windows that led out onto the balcony. It was well past midday but she didn't care. Lily was gone. Why should anything ever matter again when her beautiful fiery lion was no longer here to enjoy the world? Narcissa grimaced a little. Even if Lily had been here, alive, she would not have shown the slightest interest in how Narcissa was spending her day. She would have been off with her husband and that intriguing child that had his mother's eyes. They would have been walking through forests or visiting family members. Narcissa had always seen Lily as the 'family' kind, always visiting one relative or another who would hug and kiss the woman and her husband, and coo over the baby boy and how big he had grown. _

"_Narcissa!" Lucius' voice boomed through the manor like an exploding bomb causing Narcissa to sit bolt upright in the bed. She knew she should go to him. She knew the punishment she would get if she made her husband wait too long for a reply. Every muscle in her body tensed for a moment but she forced herself to lie back down. She would not leave her bed, not today. She couldn't keep letting Lucius treat her in the way he did, as though she was no better than a house elf. She had to make him see that she was not going to let him push her around. She would not be the obedient little wife he wanted her to be. "Narcissa!" he shouted again. This time she didn't even flinch - she was becoming used to the beatings and besides, what more could he do to hurt her today? Her heart was already as good as ripped to shreds. Would it matter if he killed her? She could be with Lily again if he did. She could finally tell the redhead exactly how she felt about her. No. She knew that would never happen. Lucius wouldn't want to take his beatings too far anyway – he wouldn't want to lose a perfectly good punching bag and play thing. _

_The door of the room creaked open slightly but Narcissa didn't turn around, her eyes fixed on the line between the sky and the tree tops visible from her window. She didn't care who it was who had come to disturb her peace. If it was Lucius then she could simply lay there and take whatever punishment he saw fit. If it was a house elf then it didn't much matter if she acknowledged it or not – they weren't equals to witches and wizards so why should she treat them as such? _

"_Mummy?" a little voice crept through the silence a little uncertainly as a blonde boy slowly edged his way into the room. Narcissa turned her gaze to rest on him. Of course, he was the only being she would willingly acknowledge on this day, her baby boy, her Draco. "Mummy, why are you still in bed?" She tried to smile, only achieving a strained twitch of her lips before turning away from her son again – she didn't want him to see her like that, it would ruin his image of her. Tears were brimming in her eyes and she prayed that Draco would leave, but he didn't. The minute weight of his tiny body caused the bed to dip slightly as he crawled up next to her and wrapped his tiny arms around her neck. "Don't be sad mummy" he whispered and Narcissa managed a small giggle before tears began to stream down her cheeks. Merlin, she hadn't wanted this. Draco was supposed to be with his tutor – where was she anyway? _

"_I'm fine darling," she choked out, desperately wiping at her tear stained, pink cheeks in an attempting to regain her composure, "just not quite feeling myself today." The child nodded, looking at his mother with big blue eyes filled with worry – he really was the sweetest thing, Narcissa would never understand how Lucius had played any role in creating him. _

_Draco remained with his arms wrapped around Narcissa a few minutes longer before Lucius once again roared his wife's name. He sounded closer this time. Narcissa instinctively wrapped her own arms protectively around her child, pulling him closer as though to shield him from her husband with her own body. She had done so many times before, of course – Lucius never had been a calm man. Within moments the door of the room swung harshly open, admitting one extremely irate Lucius Malfoy – his hair tied with a ribbon behind his head and his teeth visibly clenched in aggression and anger. _

"_Narcissa I have called you three times now, why have you felt it necessary to keep me waiting?" His voice was low, dangerous, just as it always was when he was in one of his moods. She clutched Draco's tiny form tighter to her and stared her husband straight in the eyes, defiance burning in her own. _

"_I am not a dog, Lucius, and I will not be summoned like one." It was thrilling to speak to him with such force. She suddenly began to understand why Lily had always spoken with such gusto when challenged at school – it felt good to take control. _

_Narcissa glared at her husband, ensuring her icy gaze never left his. His mouth had dropped open a little and for a moment he looked bewildered; clearly Lucius had not been expecting this sudden alteration in his wife's personality and it took him a while to collect enough sense to straighten his posture and take on a more dominant appearance. _

"_How dare you" he hissed. He had been raised with the belief that women should follow orders and, if they did not, it was perfectly acceptable to punish them. His fists were clenched so tightly that the colour had drained from his knuckles. There was an almost insane look in his eyes that Narcissa recognised as the same look her sister Bellatrix got when she was really angered; she began to wonder if standing up to Lucius really had been such a good idea, after all, look where that level of anger had got Bella – locked up in Azkaban for life. Narcissa's courage began to falter at the look Lucius gave her. Would he kill her? She wasn't sure she could confidently say that he wouldn't any more. _

_The Malfoy patriarch advanced towards the bed slowly, seemingly unconscious of the fact that his son was still present, curled in his mother's arms and shaking with terror. Narcissa knew she should send Draco away, but what if Lucius stopped her? What if he tried to harm Draco? She couldn't risk that happening. Luckily though, she didn't have to. As Lucius continued to move closer he looked down at his son and stopped momentarily. "Leave, Draco." The boy flinched and Narcissa hushed him, gently stroking his hair until he looked up at her. Her eyes pleaded with him to do as he was told and, thank merlin, he must have got the message because Draco slid from his mother's grip and jumped from the bed, leaving as fast as his little legs would carry him, only looking back to see that Narcissa was still in one piece before closing the door behind him. _

_"You shouldn't speak to me like that in front of him" Narcissa muttered, pulling the quilts up around herself as thought they would protect her from Lucius' rage. He ignored her, making his way around to the side of the bed which she occupied, fists still clenched and his eyes darkening. _

_"Why are you still in bed at this hour?" he growled. He roughly took hold of the quilts and ripped them from the bed, throwing them to the other side of the room. His eyes roamed over her petite body as she attempted to cover herself up, tugging at the short skirt of her white silk night dress in a vain attempt to hide as much of her flesh as she could. It was no use and Narcissa knew that - so this was what Lucius had wanted her for. _

_"Lucius please... not today" her voice broke and he smirked. He knew exactly why she didn't want this and Narcissa knew that was exactly why he was doing it. He pushed her back against the headboard hard, a sickening crack and a small yelp resounding through the room as her head ricocheted off of the polished wood before lolling to the side, as lifelessly as a ragdoll held by a small child. It took all of Narcissa's energy to lift her head again. She could feel blood in her hair, slowly seeping down towards her neck as the room span before her. _

_"Look at me" Lucius hissed, grabbing her face and forcing it up so that Narcissa found herself staring into his grey, lifeless eyes. He looked tired, she thought. He seemed tired too - normally by now he would have thrown her onto the floor and stabbed her at least once. "Say it" he ordered. _

_"No." _

_That was a mistake. Lucius' hand closed around Narcissa's throat instantly and her hands flew up to meet it, tugging at his fingers as her oxygen supply began to deplete. "I told you to say it and you're bloody well going to" he growled. His mouth was inches from her ear and she could feel his breath on her cheek, hot and thick like the blood clotting in her hair. Narcissa prayed for it to stop. She begged anyone who could help her to make him leave her be. But, of course, it made no difference - no one was listening. "Well?" _

_"I... I..." Her vision was growing hazy and each sound that escaped her throat burned like fire; still Lucius squeezed her delicate, swan like neck tighter. Narcissa was almost sure she was about to pass out - she could hear her own heart beat and the light was beginning to fade. "Please Lucius," she choked out, barely able to form her words properly "I can't..." _

_"Say it." _

_"I... want you." The words tasted vile and Narcissa hated herself for giving in. Lucius' grip loosened around her throat and he slowly released his hold entirely, kneeling over her with a malicious grin on his face. All of Narcissa's senses seemed heightened as air flooded back into her lungs and she gasped to take in as much oxygen as she possibly could. Her head and throat were throbbing violently and she gently ran her fingers across the enflamed flesh where her husband had almost strangled her to death. _

_Lucius wasted no time once he got what he wanted - his hands seemed to be everywhere, roaming over every inch of Narcissa's body. There was nothing she could do but lay there and allow the man to take what it was he desired. She was so weak, so exhausted and she simply couldn't fight back any more. She squeezed her eyes shut tight as Lucius' hand forced itself between her legs and his calloused fingers rubbed her most sensitive area viciously. She felt sick. He had forced himself on her before, but never like this – never taking so much pleasure in her pain. "Please Lucius…" she whispered meekly, in a final attempt at appealing to his better nature. It didn't work – Lucius Malfoy didn't have a better nature. _

_Narcissa's torture didn't last long, ten minutes at most, but every second tore at her soul more violently than the last. When Lucius finally removed himself from her bed and left the room she could no longer summon the strength to move even an inch. Her pale flesh was bruised and blackened all over, blood staining the sheets beneath her, clotting between her thighs as well as on the back of her head. Her eyes, usually bright and glistening, were dull and blank of emotion, staring across the room at her destroyed night dress. 'Merlin,' she thought to herself 'how did I let it get this bad?'_

_The door creaked open once more and suddenly strength seemed to flood back into Narcissa's body; she leapt from the bed onto the floor, pulling the quilts that Lucius had discarded there around herself. She stared at the door, trying to remain calm. Only her eyes betrayed the terror she felt. But it wasn't Lucius returning to finish the mess he had started to create, instead the small blonde head belonging to Draco poked itself around the door, his big blue eyes scanning the room until they caught sight of his mother, curled in the quilts on the floor. _

_"M... mummy?" His little voice shook and he remained in the doorway, looking at Narcissa with tears brimming in his eyes. She didn't answer. She couldn't answer. What was she supposed to say? She couldn't pretend that everything was okay, not when she looked as though she had been in some horrific accident. _

_Draco slowly began to edge into the room, cautiously walking along the boundaries of the walls like a cat scanning for potential threats. He picked up the remnants of Narcissa's night dress as he passed it, attempting to fold it neatly before placing it on the edge of the bed. He stopped at the sight of the blood staining the sheets, his eyes widening a little. He had known his parents to fight but he had never imagined his father would actually spill his mother's blood. Tentatively he began walking again, picking up his mother's lilac satin robe from a chair by the bed and continuing to walk until he finally reached her side. Narcissa looked up at her son, her baby boy, far too mature for his years; he held her robe out to her and she took it, her arms shaking from the pain it took simply to lift them from her sides. _

_"Thank you darling" she whispered, enveloping herself in the garment and allowing the quilts to fall back to the floor. Draco took her hand, saying nothing, and helped Narcissa to her feet, supporting her until she was sat back on the bed. Tears were streaming down her cheeks again. It hurt to move, yes, but what hurt more was the resigned attitude Draco took to helping his mother in her time of need. Only seven years old - no child should be so calm in this situation at such a young age. Narcissa hated herself for allowing him to see it; she hated herself for failing as his mother, failing to protect him from all of the darkness between Lucius and herself. "Draco I…" _

"_No," he whispered, looking her directly in the eyes. He didn't have to say anything else; it was plain to see that he did not want to discuss what he was seeing. The small boy pulled himself onto the bed next to his mother and wrapped his arms around her in an attempt at the protective embrace Narcissa had held him in only a short while before. In that embrace Narcissa's pain seemed to disappear. She felt safe, secure, loved. _

Narcissa opened her eyes and looked down at her son's head, still resting gently in her lap. His eyes were closed, they always were when the pair would comfort one another, as though he were blocking out the world, blocking out everything and everyone that wasn't his mother. Her Draco. Her baby.

"Everything will be okay darling. He won't ever hurt me again, I promise." She meant it. She would never allow Lucius Malfoy to harm her or those she loved ever again.


	11. Family Feuds

**Note: **Hi there! So, while writing this I have realised that it won't be long until I bring this one to a close. I probably have about 4 or 5 chapters left at most. Because I'm getting so close to the end I thought I might ask if there are any pairings you would like me to write about next. I already have a couple of one-shots that I'm working on but nothing that I'm really planning to make into a full blown story unless I get a really good amount of feedback on them. I would love to hear any suggestions of pairings so please don't hesitate to message them to me, and as always thank you for continuing to read my fictions, it really does mean the world to me. I welcome reviews so please let me know what you're thinking!

Love always

Shadow of a Black Rose xxx

~.~.~.~.~.~

For the first few months after we locked Lucius away no one really noticed his absence; if anything the only reaction it gained was passing comments of "Oh, isn't it lovely not to see that scumbag Malfoy moping about all of the time" or "Do you think the Ministry have finally locked him away for good?". However, the Malfoy name was heard more and more often throughout the wizarding world, and for once no one had a single harsh word to say about the family. Since starting his new job at Hogwarts, Draco had become extremely popular with the younger generations, most of whom claimed he was the best Defence Against the Dark Arts professor the school had ever had. Parents were a little sceptical at first but when grades for the subject rose massively after the first term even the most uncertain parents had to admit that maybe Draco really had changed for the better. Professor McGonagall had even taken a shine to him (thankfully, as I was sure if he had mucked up she would have killed me for recommending him) and had told me that she classed him as one of her most trusted colleagues. While Narcissa's social life hadn't changed too much, as she was already viewed highly for her role in ending the war and defeating the Dark Lord, people were exceptionally taken by her changed personality and approach towards others. I had even noticed that Lucius' absence from her life had made her loosen up a bit more and it was as though her personality had been completely flipped on its head - where once I was one of the only people who saw her smile it now seemed that it was a rare occurrence to ever see the smile leave her face. I'd often hear women commenting on how much more approachable she had become and it made me laugh when one woman had stated to her friend that "before I was terrified of her, now it is as though everyone is her new best friend - the woman is like an excitable puppy!"

It wasn't just publicly that the pair had changed either and I had noticed whenever I visited them that there was a completely different air about the Manor. A few weeks after the incident with Lucius, Narcissa had decided that she was sick of living in a place that made her as uncomfortable as the Manor did, so she set about drawing up designs to completely redecorate ever room. The only exception to the overhaul was the dungeons. After a while we all refused to set foot in the lower levels of the Manor, knowing that our acknowledgement of Lucius' existence still darkened our moods and put a strain on the new lives Narcissa and Draco were beginning to build. It was as though we had wiped him from the world as one would wipe a smudge from a mirror; the house elves would take down meals for him but other than that no one even seemed to notice that he was still living in the house at all.

As for me, my relationship with Narcissa grew stronger the more time I spent with her. She was even more amazing than I had ever realised before and it seemed that every day she found a new way to make me love her even more. I loved the way she would smile when I told her I loved her and the way she liked to curl up by the fire when she was tired. I loved the purring noises she made when I rubbed her lower back as we lay in bed and her incapability to keep her hands to herself when we were in a public place. I even loved how she would refuse to talk to me when she was reading, the way she would look at me with those pretty blue eyes and raise an eyebrow as an indication that I should know better than to pull her from her own little world of fantasies that she loved so dearly.

I rarely ever left Malfoy Manor after three of four months, only going home to sleep (and sometimes not even then if Narcissa could persuade me to spend the night). It didn't bother me at all, I wanted nothing more than to spend the rest of my life in the Manor with her, but my mother had other ideas. I knew she was becoming suspicious. On several occasions when I left the house in the morning she had interrogated me about why I spent so much time away from home, an occurrence that always ended with the same argument about my 'education' and whether or not it was more important than me spending time with my family. Of course, I still hadn't told any of my family about my relationship with Narcissa and so my mother was still under the impression that the only reason I went to see the Malfoys at all was to study for my exams. It wasn't a complete lie, Narcissa was still tutoring me to pass my NEWTs, the only difference was that now we faced a few more distractions as often a lesson would inspire debates which turned into play fighting and eventually all hope of teaching or learning was lost and we would end up lying amongst the book shelves having fucked each other senseless.

Eventually, six months after my first lesson with Narcissa and four or five months after we had dealt with Lucius, there was a particular argument with my mother that pushed me over the edge. I hadn't been home for two solid weeks and as I stepped out of the fire place, having travelled back home through my usual method I was bombarded by my mother's questions once more. I didn't mind the questions so much anymore as I had faced these inquisitions so often that they had become a part of my routine; however, I was not prepared for how angry my mother had become. As soon as I set foot in the sitting room she had grabbed me by the arm, pulled me into the kitchen and practically thrown me down into one of the seats.

"Ginevra Weasley I have had quite enough of this!" She screeched, pacing back and forth behind me while my father sat opposite me looking overly apologetic for my mother's mood. "You can't honestly expect me to believe that you are spending all of your time away from home at Malfoy Manor. Where is it you're going? Is it a boy? You can tell me if it is darling, I just want to know exactly who it is that is so much more important than your family." She stopped pacing and went to stand behind dad's chair, looking at me expectantly. I didn't say anything for a moment, just staring at her, trying to figure out what I could possibly say. Could I tell her the truth? No. Of course not. Don't be ridiculous Ginny. The rest of the wizarding world may have forgiven Narcissa but my mother still was not convinced - I wondered if it may have been because she was Bellatrix's sister but there was no way of me knowing for sure.

"Honestly mum, I've just been at Malfoy Manor..."

"Oh, and Mrs Malfoy is fine with that is she? She has no problem with you hanging around all the time?" I could see her gripping the back of dad's chair tighter, the colour draining from her knuckles as she did so.

"Well I haven't heard any complaints" I muttered, mentally laughing at my own joke - unfortunately it was wasted on my parents with their lack of knowledge about my relationship, although I made a mental note to tell Narcissa about the conversation the next time I saw her. Mum opened her mouth to respond but dad held up a hand, cutting her off before she could start ranting again.

"I know your mother has a funny way of showing it Ginny, but she is only worried about you. Even I have to admit the amount of time you're spending away from home is getting a little excessive... it's becoming hard for us not to think that you may have some sort of secret love affair going on." He smiled warmly, clearly trying to reduce the tension in the room. I would have told him happily if mum hadn't been there. Dad would understand, he always did, but mum was still so hysterical that it would have been impossible to make her understand.

"I promise dad, I've just been at the Manor, nowhere else. Narcissa doesn't mind. If anything I think it makes it easier with me staying there because we can work for longer and focus more" Again I giggled internally. Yes, we had been getting more work done as of late but there was no way we had been more focused - if anything out focus had been dwindling more and more as time went on.

"Is it her son?" My mother asked, her eyes widening a little as the thought occurred to her, "are you seeing her son? Is that why you spend so much time there?"

"EW! No! Absolutely not! Draco's great and all, but no." Just the thought of it made me cringe. Draco and I had become good friends since he finally learned to accept my relationship with his mother, but the thought of anything more than that was vile. It made bile rise in my throat and I had to try very hard not to throw up. Dad was grinning, clearly seeing the discomfort on my face, but mum still wasn't convinced. She gave dad a whack around the head when she noticed his grin and stood at the head of the table with her hands on her hips, glaring at him.

"Don't encourage her Arthur! She's obviously lying to us, there's no way she's that dedicated to her school work!" I could feel the heat rising in my face. Why couldn't she just let it drop? Did it really matter that I was in a secret relationship? Did it really matter that I spent so much time away from home? I looked down at my hands, realising that I had been clenching my fists. She was really pushing it this time. I was growing tired of having to explain myself all the time. Shouldn't a mother just trust her children? Well, apparently mine didn't.

"Fine. You don't believe me? Okay, here's the truth. Narcissa and I have been secretly seeing each other for most of the time she's been tutoring me. Lucius became problematic and tried to kill her so I stunned him and we're keeping him as a prisoner in the Manor dungeons until Narcissa can file for divorce due to desertion. Draco knows that we are together and, he wasn't that happy about it at first, but he's learned to accept it because Narcissa and I really do make each other happy. That's why I've been spending so much time over there. I hate being separated from her and vice versa. Whenever I'm there we do still study for my NEWTs but we also spend a lot of our time fucking like rabbits, I mean really we can't get enough of each other. I am totally head over heels in love with her and one day I am going to ask her to marry me and I know she'll say yes because she loves me just as much as I love her." I looked mum square in the eyes. She was frowning, as though she was trying to work out if I was being serious or not. Dad was looking at me too but he didn't seem so confused. I think he believed me, but I couldn't tell - his smile was so serene that he may not even have taken anything I had said in properly. A few minutes passed in silence until mum sighed and shook her head.

"Really Ginny, now you're just being ridiculous." she seemed less hysterical but clearly she still didn't believe a word I was saying to her. "If you're going to make up a story you could at least try to make it realistic." I just rolled my eyes. What more could I do? I'd told her the truth, if she didn't want to believe it then that was her problem.

"Fine." I'd had enough. I was going up to bed and there was no way I was letting her stop me. "If you don't want to believe me mum then don't, but I'm not going to start spending any more time in this house if you keep interrogating me like this. I'm much happier at the Manor where no one feels the need to know where I am and what I'm doing at every second of the day." With that I stood up and ran up the stairs. I didn't make it to the second floor, however, before I bumped into George who had clearly been listening in on my fight with mum. He looked me in the eyes, frowning for a minute. I wondered what he was thinking. Then, out of nowhere, he wrapped his arms around me and hugged me tightly.

"That really was the truth wasn't it Gin?" he mumbled, not letting his grip loosen even a little. "Why didn't you tell me before? It must have been crap for you not having anyone to talk to about it." Slowly he let go of me and pulled away, looking down at me. He was grinning, his 'proud big brother' look plastered on his face. I couldn't help the smile that crept onto my own features. Of everyone in the family, George was the one I had always known wouldn't have a problem with me just being myself.

"You don't hate me then?" I asked, knowing full well that he didn't but feeling the need to ask anyway.

"Hate you? Ginny, are you joking - Fred and I always said we'd bang Malfoy's mum given half the chance, but you've actually done it!" His grin widened and I laughed. "How could I hate you for being you sis? I always knew you weren't that fussed by boys. The closest you ever got was Harry but we both know he was just like another brother to you."

"So how long do you think it'll take mum to realise I was being serious?"

"I don't know" he shrugged "but please let me be around when she does - I can't wait to see her face when she actually gets it." With that he grinned and started climbing the stairs but stopped a few steps up to look back at me. "Have you seriously got Lucius Malfoy locked up in his own house to keep him out of the way until she can divorce him?"

I grinned to match his and nodded, "I don't think that's the sort of thing anyone can just make up," I laughed, "don't worry though, he's not a threat any more. I've learned from him that crossing Narcissa is really not a good idea."

~.~.~.~.~.~

The next day I left before anyone was awake, taking most of my clothes and belongings with me. Narcissa and I had been talking about me moving in for a while and, with the mood in the house as it was, I figured there was no point putting it off any longer. As I left my room I stopped momentarily, wondering whether I should tell George that I was leaving or not. I felt bad, leaving without saying goodbye to him, but he would know where to find me if he really needed me. So I went. I crept down the stairs and used the floo network to transport myself to Malfoy Manor. As I stepped out of the fireplace, possessions in hand, a funny thought dawned on me - I felt more like I was returning home stepping out of that fireplace than I had stepping out of my own fireplace the day before.

I looked at my watch. It was only half past six, I doubted Narcissa would even have stirred in her bed yet. I left my bags on the floor and made my way up to her room, slipping through the door as quietly as I could and gliding over to the bed. She was curled up, as always, like a kitten, rolled into a little ball with her hands partially covering her face. I loved how she slept. So innocent. Even with her changed public attitude, this side of Narcissa was reserved for me and only me. I was the only person who she would allow to see her in such a vulnerable state. Slowly, I lowered myself onto the bed by her side and lay there, watching her. The dipping of the mattress disturbed her and she rolled to face me, uncurling her legs and stretching them out, her hands reaching towards me. I smiled. I loved how, even when she was still sleeping soundly, she knew it was me. I slid over slowly and draped one arm over her waist, pressing a kiss to her forehead as she began to wake up. Whenever I stayed the night in the Manor I made a point of waking up before Narcissa so I could watch her as she was slowly pulled from her sleeping state. It was my favourite part of the day, watching her wake up. Her eyes were blurry for a moment as she blinked to adjust to the light of the room. She parted her lips only to press them together again, repeating the action several times as though she were trying to communicate without sound. Finally she wrinkled her nose and smiled slightly, locking her eyes on mine - it was the most adorable thing and it warmed my heart to watch her re-entering the world from her land of dreams.

"I thought you went home last night" She murmured, her voice breaking slightly as it re-adjusted to the strain of being used.

"Yeah, well, after mum's reaction I didn't really fancy sticking around to see how much worse her mood was this morning." I didn't really want to talk about last night, but I knew she would ask. In an attempt to change the subject I pulled her closer so our bodies fit perfectly together and brushed my lips against hers, gently at first but increasing in pressure as I pulled her closer still. She knew what I was doing, of course, and tried to extract herself from my hold, refusing to kiss me back until I gave up trying. She looked at me, concerned, and stroked my cheek gently,

"What happened my love?" _Damn it. _I thought, _Why does she always have to ask the questions I don't want to answer?_ I shook my head but she continued looking at me, beautiful eyes burning into me until I knew I had to tell her.

"The same as always. I got home and she started throwing questions at me about where I'd been and why I was barely ever home. She'd got it into her head that I was seeing some boy, and when I insisted I'd only been here she assumed the boy I was seeing was Draco." Narcissa snorted, giggling lightly, knowing how disgusted I would have been simply at the thought of myself with Draco. "It's not funny."

"I'm sorry," she giggled, trying to stop herself but knowing that her attempts were in vain. I rolled my eyes but couldn't suppress my smile, it was sort of funny if I really thought about it.

"Anyway, I put her right. I told her exactly what was going on." That shut her up. The smile was immediately wiped from Narcissa's face and she looked into my eyes, searching for the answer to all of the questions she was yet to ask. "Don't worry, she didn't believe me. She thought I was making up stories to hide what was really going on, George believed me though."

"And what did he have to say about it?" I smirked.

"He was proud of me... I believe his exact words were 'Fred and I always said we would bang Malfoy's mum given half the chance'. At any rate, I don't think he has a problem with us being together."

"But you think your mother does?" Narcissa still looked concerned. She was curling my hair around her fingers, a nervous habit she had developed over the last six months whenever we decided to have serious discussions while in bed (which, thankfully, wasn't very often. Our time in bed was usually used much more productively).

"I don't know yet. If she doesn't believe a word I say then how am I ever supposed to find out how she feels about it? The woman is impossible Cissa, I mean, she's always been mad but it just seems to be getting worse ever since Fred died" She pulled me close, remaining silent as she stroked my hair gently, just one more thing I loved about my beautiful Cissa, she always knew when words were necessary and when I just needed her to hold me.

It was a long time before either of us spoke again, we simply lay there, wrapped around one another. I have no idea how much time passed in silence but eventually Narcissa kissed my head and looked down at me, a small smile on her face. "Do I take it you are not planning to go home?" She asked, looking at me as if she knew exactly what I was thinking.

"Cissa, are you reading my mind again?"

"Of course not darling, I would never do such a thing." She smirked and I laughed. I had to hand it to her, she knew how to read me like a book - I just wished she would ask permission before doing so.

~.~.~.~.~.~

Molly knocked on her daughter's bedroom door the morning after their fight. She felt bad for how she had been handling things lately; the loss of one of her children had really heightened her fears of the rest getting themselves into danger, but her fight with Ginny the night before had finally made her realise that perhaps she was becoming a little overprotective. She frowned when there was no response. Usually Ginny would come to the door, or at least invite her in, but there was nothing. _Perhaps she's still asleep_ Molly thought to herself, _Of course, that's what it is._ Slowly she opened the door, being careful to avoid making it creek, and stepped into the room. Ginny wasn't there. Where could she possibly have gone so early? Surely she wouldn't be with the Malfoys, Molly couldn't imagine Narcissa being the sort to wake up much before lunch time. Frowning and confused she turned and left her daughter's room, heading back down to the kitchen where Arthur was sat eating his breakfast while George was paying the owl which had delivered their copy of the Daily Prophet.

"Has anyone seen Ginny this morning?" She tried her best not to sound too concerned - worrying too much would only earn her accusations of being 'insane' or 'a bloody lunatic'.

"I thought she was still in bed." Arthur replied looking at his wife, a chunk of sausage dangling from his fork having not yet completed its journey from the plate to his mouth.

"No, I thought so too but she's not in her room."

"I wouldn't worry too much mum, I'm sure wherever she is she's fine." George was smirking as though he knew something. Molly frowned, that smirk never meant anything good, especially on George.

"Where is she George?"

"Well I don't know do I!" He held his hands up, claiming his innocence, but Molly was having none of it.

"George Weasley, you tell me where your sister is right this second!" It was then that a thought occurred to her. Ginny's room had seemed extremely empty when she looked in, and it was not just because her daughter hadn't been in there. Her books had been gone. Her broom wasn't leaning against her wardrobe like normal. Even the shoes that were usually scattered over the floor hadn't been where she expected them to be. Molly's eyes widened and, not waiting for George's response, she ran back up the stairs and into Ginny's room. How had she missed it before? Almost everything was gone. The room felt bare and unlived in. She opened the wardrobe to find it completely empty - all of Ginny's clothes were gone too. Had she run away? Had Molly really upset her daughter that much that she had just packed her bags and left?

As Molly re-entered the kitchen it was clear that something was wrong. She was a ghostly shade of white and her movements were slower than normal as she lowered herself into a chair.

"Molly love, what is it? What's wrong?" Arthur got up and walked around to his wife's side of the table, leaning over her with a concerned expression.

"She's gone... all of her things are gone... she's not coming back" George turned to look at his mother, the smirk immediately wiped from his face. Molly was shaking, tears starting to seep from her eyes as Arthur rubbed her back gently. "I...I didn't mean to upset her," Molly sobbed, "I...I just worry, that's all. I just... I needed to know that she wasn't in danger. I needed to know that she was staying somewhere safe when she wasn't here." The last word shook and she broke down in floods of tears, burying her face in her husband's chest as he wrapped his arms around her protectively.

"Do you know where she is George?" He asked, looking at his son in a plea for help.

"She'll be at Malfoy Manor I assume."

"B...but surely Mrs Malfoy wouldn't... wouldn't want her there... permanently" Molly sobbed, her words muffled by her tears. Arthur, still looking at George, frowned a little.

"What she said last night about Narcissa Malfoy... she wasn't joking was she?" His voice was low, serious. George considered the question for a moment. Ginny was the one who had told them, so surely she must have known that their parents would find out that she was serious sooner or later. Then again, she had also said everything she did in the heat of the moment while she was angry. So should he tell his father the truth? "George, did she mean it? Are her and Narcissa really...?"

"Yes."

~.~.~.~.~.~

Narcissa and I were duelling later in the day, making sure that I could fully control all of the spells for my Defence Against the Dark Arts exam, when George turned up. We'd been practicing for hours and were both panting and drenched in sweat, wands held at the ready, then the flames of the fire turned emerald and he stepped out of the fire place, immediately smirking as he saw the two of us. His eyes flicked back and forth as his smirk grew wider and I had to suppress a groan, knowing he was about to say something utterly ridiculous.

"Have I interrupted something? I mean, I know you said you fucked like rabbits Gin, but I didn't know magical foreplay was involved." There it was. Why did he have to quote me on that, it was only going to get me into trouble with Narcissa. He was grinning from ear to ear by the time he had finished, looking more than extremely pleased with himself. Narcissa, on the other hand, was looking at me, one eyebrow raised - I could practically see her mind beginning to work out a way of getting me back for telling my brother about our sex life.

"No.. we're not... we're just..." I tried desperately to catch my breath but I simply couldn't get enough air to finish a full sentence.

"We're in the middle of a lesson." Narcissa said simply, clearly not realising how much worse she was making it. I gave George a warning glare, stopping him before he could even form some perverted comment about a student teacher relationship in his mind.

"What are you doing here anyway?" I didn't mean to sound as rude as I probably did. I hoped he would understand that I still wasn't in the best of moods and him just appearing was interrupting the first duel that I'd been winning all day.

"Mum sent me to make sure you were okay. I should probably warn you, I had to tell them you were serious about what you said last night, you know, about you two." I noticed Narcissa visibly tense up. She was still so afraid of what could happen if our relationship went public; technically she was still married to Lucius and if the Ministry were to find out that she was cheating on him she was convinced it would ruin her plan of getting rid of him for good.

"How did they react?"

"Well, dad was a bit shocked to find out you were gay, he always thought you and Harry would end up together, but I think he's okay about it. He didn't seem too surprised that you'd meant it really, I think he knew you were being serious when you told them how much you loved her last night." Narcissa blushed a little, I could see from the corner of my eye that she was attempting to cover her cheeks and I had to suppress a giggle at how hard she was concentrating on remaining calm. George didn't seem to notice; he was frowning and I could only assume that meant that my mother had not taken it quite so well.

"And mum?"

"Mum, yeah, well..." he went quiet again, looking down at the ground. "She's trying to understand it Ginny. At first she was angry, calling Mrs Malfoy all sorts of names." He looked over at Narcissa apologetically but she just nodded, she understood that mum would obviously be upset - after all, Narcissa was practically stealing her only daughter for herself. "Dad talked to her, tried to get her to think of it from your point of view, but she's still not quite got her head around the idea yet I don't think. I suppose it doesn't help that there's such a huge age gap and that... well, that it was her side in the war that..." He trailed off. I knew exactly what he was thinking. It was the side Narcissa was on that had caused Fred's death. Narcissa must have known what George was thinking but hadn't said too because she briskly walked from the room, not saying a word to either of us as she went. I turned to go after her but looked back at George, not sure who to deal with first. "It's okay," he muttered, "she's your priority right now, right? I'm fine Gin; I'm happy for you both. I know it wasn't her fault Fred died. She didn't send the curse at that wall." He smiled weakly. "I'll wait for you here."

As I left, George plonked himself down on the sofa, picking up one of my school books from the table beside it and flicking through it in an attempt to entertain himself. I made my way out to the garden, finding Narcissa sat on the bench under her favourite tree where I knew her sister was buried. Slowly I came up behind her, leaning down to wrap my arms around her as best I could (despite the awkward angle) and placing a kiss on the top of her head.

"They know it wasn't your fault," I whispered as she took both of my hands in hers, lacing her fingers through mine as she always did when she was upset and needed to feel a solid connection between us, "mum's just upset. It's like I told you, she's been worse lately than ever before, and she's always been over protective so that's saying something." Narcissa smiled a little but I knew she wasn't convinced. She hated being reminded of the war and the side she had been on. It still hurt her to remember the life she had lead before hand. "Listen," I whispered, sitting down beside her and turning her head so she was looking into my eyes, "everything's going to be alright. Mum will get over these problems she's having and she'll realise how happy you make me. I know that the only thing she really cares about is that I'm happy and safe, and when she realises that I am the only obstacle left will be getting rid of Lucius."

"I don't want her to hate me Ginny. I don't want her to think I've corrupted you or that I'm using you, and I certainly don't want her to blame you. I couldn't bear it if you lost your family because of me. You've always told me how close you all are, what if I've ruined that for you?" She seemed lost. As I looked into her eyes I could see the woman she had been when this affair of ours first started and it scared me to think that just my mother's reaction had brought back that hopelessness that I had fought so hard to rid her of. I opened my mouth to speak but she pressed a finger to my lips, forcing me to remain silent. "Ginny I've seen how love can tear a family apart. My mother didn't approve of the man Andromeda fell in love with and look what that led to. I haven't spoken to my sister since I was a child. I think that when mother disowned Andy, that was what pushed Bella towards the Dark Lord. It was the destruction of our family and I can't do that to you. I won't do that to you."

"No, you won't do that to me Cissa because it's not going to happen. My mother's not like yours; it'll take time but eventually she will realise that I'm happy and that will be all that matters to her. I promise you, everything is going to be okay." She looked at me. I could tell she wasn't sure. My poor angel, she'd faced so much pain in her life, how could I expect her to believe that nothing would go wrong?

"Ginny, I..."

"No Narcissa, there's no discussion needed." I leant forward and kissed her gently, feeling tears on her cheeks. When had she started crying? I hadn't even noticed the tears falling down her face, but there was no doubt that they were there. Slowly I pulled back and brushed the tears from her cheeks, looking directly into her eyes. "We're going to be okay. I love you, don't ever forget that."


End file.
